Bobrovsky, Panthers shut out Flames for 8th victory in 10 games

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Calgary Flames 3-0 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Evan Rodrigues had a goal and an assist, and Sam Bennett had two assists for the Panthers (37-21-3), who have won three straight games and eight of their past 10.

Bobrovsky got his 14th shutout with the Panthers, passing John Vanbiesbrouck for sole possession of third in franchise history. He has 47 in the NHL.

“I thought the whole team performance was terrific,” Bobrovsky said. “In that second period, if it was not for their goalie, we could have scored five or six goals. It was [an] incredible performance by our guys. Fun game.”

Dan Vladar made 39 saves for the Flames (28-23-8), who have lost two in a row and five of seven (2-4-1).

Through two periods, the Panthers had a 35-12 advantage in shots and a 66-23 edge in shot attempts before the Flames outshot them 11-7 in the third.

“The thing we need to take from this is that we had a pretty good push back,” Vladar said. “I am very proud of this group. A couple guys said this in the room afterward, that if we play like we did in the third, we will put ourself in a pretty good position. That was our hockey, for sure.”

Calgary was shut out for the second straight game, having lost 3-0 at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

“We didn’t play very well today,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “I thought [Vladar] was unreal. If he wasn’t on the way he was, that game gets away even more so than it did today. I thought we were a slow team and didn’t look prepared to play.”

Jonah Gadjovich gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 4:47 of the second period. After taking a pass from A.J. Greer, Gadjovich lifted the puck over Vladar’s pad from the right of the net after the goalie stopped his first two attempts.

Calgary challenged for goaltender interference on Gadjovich, but the call on the ice stood.

“We played a full 60 there. Everyone played as hard as they could,” Gadjovich said. “We did what we wanted to do, executed, and stuck with the game plan.”

Rodrigues made it 2-0 at 19:24. He threw the puck to the crease in what appeared to an intended pass for Bennett, who was charging toward the left post, and it deflected in off Vladar’s stick.

“I thought we played a playoff-type of game,” Rodrigues said. “We didn’t give them very much, especially in the first two [periods], stayed patient and when we got chances off their turnovers, we capitalized on them.”

Mackie Samoskevich made it a 3-0 final at 16:08 of the third period. He took a pass from Bennett, drove in on Vladar and beat him on the backhand. It was Samoskevich’s 10th goal of the season and third in the past five games.

“You know what? That was a good game,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “We played well pretty much straight through. They played hard, battled on pucks. They’re in a playoff fight, and played well. This was a good game to be good in, and we needed to be.”

NOTES: The Panthers honored Flames forward Ryan Lomberg with a video tribute in the first period. Lomberg played four seasons with Florida (2020-24) and was part of the 2024 Stanley Cup championship team before signing with Calgary as a free agent on July 1. With the crowd cheering, he skated out to center ice. “It stings losing this one, but I’m incredibly thankful and appreciative for the fans cheering for me,” Lomberg said. … Samoskevich (52 games) became the fifth-fastest Florida rookie in the past 20 years to reach 10 goals in a season. Forward Jonathan Huberdeau, who now plays for Calgary, was the fastest, doing it in 22 games in 2012-13. … Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk (lower body) missed his fourth straight game. He is not expected to play in the next game, at home against the Lightning on Monday.