Could Sergei Bobrovsky’s fight spark Panthers as time runs out on season?

Nobody is slamming the Florida Panthers for having an off year. With 53 points through 48 games, the winners of the last two Stanley Cups find themselves in second last place in the Atlantic Division, four points out a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Florida’s mediocre pace is more than understandable, with captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov out for the season, and star winger Matthew Tkachuk having just made his season debut in Monday’s 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Despite the loss, Monday’s game could be the one to propel the Panthers back into contention. In the third period, San Jose goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic involved himself in a scrum deep in the Sharks’ end. Seeing his counterpart taking shots at his teammates, the 37-year-old Bobrovsky skated the length of the ice to trade blows with Nedeljkovic. If watching your highly paid, veteran goaltender get into a scrap can’t spark a second-half run, maybe nothing can.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed how Bobrovsky’s fisticuffs could motivate a dangerous Panthers team.

Carter Hutton: This could be a moment when we look at this Florida Panthers team, this might be something that is a rallying cry. They just lost to the San Jose Sharks. They’re out of the playoffs. Their star goalie just went down and got in a scrum. This is unbelievable.

Tyler Yaremchuk: We kind of had this conversation yesterday, so we don’t need to fully get into it, but I think a lot of people around the sport have just been sitting there going “You just wait until the Panthers get healthy, and they’ll flip the switch and they’ll go.” Last night, granted the first game back with Matthew Tkachuk, but they lost, and I think it’s a sign that if in that room, they were sitting there going, “Once we get healthy we’ll figure this season out,” that just because Matthew Tkachuk’s back doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to win nine games in row and be back near the top of the Atlantic. They still need to play hard. You’re right, maybe they needed a spark like this, maybe that’s something Bobrovsky recognized.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Tuesday’s episode here…