Bobrovsky robs Bolts to put Panthers up by 2 games

He made a superb save with his mask and then a better one with his arm off a no-look dive without his stick. Thanks to those highlight-reel moments, the Florida Panthers' 35-year-old netminder Sergei Bobrovsky became a household name for hockey fans in the Sunshine State.

The Panthers, who beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in overtime Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series, couldn't say enough good things about “Bob” after Carter Verhaeghe beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy at 2:59 of OT.

ELITE COMPANY

Edmonton hockey fans were still giddy about Connor Mcdavid's five assists in the Oilers' 7-4 Game 1 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings.

After becoming the fourth player in NHL history to reach the 100-assist mark in a season, the Oilers captain joined Wayne Gretzky on another short list. Mcdavid became the fourth skater to post five assists in his team's opening game of a playoff year, following Stan Mikita (1973), Gretzky (1981) and Geoff Courtnall (1998).

THE HURTING GAME

Defences around the NHL playoffs have been depleted by injuries, from Tampa Bay's Mikhail Sergachev and Colorado's Samuel Girard being out long term, to Carolina's Brett Pesce going down, the Canucks' Tyler Myers unable to play Tuesday, and Washington being down to minor leaguers to fill in.

TUNED IN TO WINNIPEG'S WHITEOUT

ESPN2 was pretty stoked with its numbers from Winnipeg's 7-6 victory over Colorado on Sunday, according to ESPN writer Greg Wyshynski.

Game 1 was the most-viewed first-round NHL playoff game in the network's history — and the third-most viewed Game 1 of a first-round playoff series in the history of U.S. cable TV, averaging 1.1 million viewers south of the border and peaking at 1.4 million.

PETER AND THE POWER RANGERS

New York Rangers bench boss Peter Laviolette has coached in 156 playoff games, with six different NHL teams.

But Tuesday night's 4-3 win at Madison Square Garden over Washington marked the first time he has won the first two playoff games with a new team.