Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 17 shots Wednesday night in Seattle, and the Toronto Maple Leafs left town with a 5-4 loss.
Twelve saves. That was the whole night's work for a goaltender carrying a $7 million cap hit.
By 12:51 a.m., the internet had found its angle. A post from Drew Livingstone reminded everyone the Florida Panthers let Bobrovsky walk because they “weren't sure he still had it.”
His conclusion? Bill Zito “may have made the right call.” Through the first month, the numbers aren't doing much to argue back.
The 38-year-old owns a .885 save percentage through 10 appearances. He's won three of them.
Philipp Grubauer wasn't exactly a brick wall at the other end, making 17 saves. Toronto's skaters put four past him on the road and still lost.
And that's the problem in a sentence. The Leafs have now dropped two straight while allowing 51 goals through 15 games.
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Bill Zito's Panthers aren't winning the goalie argument either
Here's the part the victory laps skip. Akira Schmid, who has handled seven games for Florida, carries the exact same .885 save percentage.
Jacob Markstrom is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and isn't expected back until at least Nov. 4. That's $6 million of goaltending sitting out.
The Panthers keep winning anyway. They sit 7-4-2 riding a two-game streak, allowing 2.8 goals per game with a structure that protects whoever's in the crease.
Handing a 38-year-old goalie that kind of money is like buying a vintage sports car for the daily commute: great history, starts when it feels like it.
It looked like a risky bet from the beginning. Ten games in, it looks like a bad one.
Meanwhile, Anthony Stolarz is sitting at .907 across five games, with three wins of his own. On a $3,750,000 cap hit, he's giving Toronto more for less.
So what does Jim Hiller do heading into Saturday's game in Vancouver? Ride the veteran's track record, or hand the net to the hotter hand?
Florida hosts Winnipeg on Friday, with Paul Maurice still waiting on Markstrom.
The first head-to-head comes Dec. 3 in Toronto. If that save percentage hasn't climbed by then, the building won't need a tweet to make the point.
Should Jim Hiller pull Sergei Bobrovsky and give Anthony Stolarz the Maple Leafs net?
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