The Columbus Blue Jackets enter tonight’s regular-season home finale at Nationwide Arena against the Boston Bruins on a five-game winning streak, and the play of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is a big reason why the team has fought itself back into the No. 1 wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
For his efforts, Bobrovsky was named the National Hockey League’s Second Star of the Month for March after leading the Blue Jackets to nine victories, including five straight wins, and back into the hotly-contested playoff race in the East.
Over 758 minutes of ice time in March, Bobrovsky allowed only 22 goals against 345 saves, a .940 save percentage, 1.74 goals-against average and four shutouts, which gave him a league-best nine on the season.
In nine of his 13 starts in March, Bobrovsky allowed two or fewer goals, including shutouts against the Carolina Hurricanes (46 saves on March 15) and New York Islanders (26 saves on March 26), as well as at the Vancouver Canucks (21 saves on March 24) and Buffalo Sabres (38 saves on March 31).
When Columbus needed Bobrovsky, a 30-year old native of Novokuznetsk, Russia, the most, he delivered and earned NHL First Star of the Week honors on Monday.
Last week, Bobrovsky posted a 4-0-0 record with a minuscule 1.00 goals-against average with a .966 save percentage and two shutouts. Bobrovsky stopped 113 of the 117 shots he faced in the four victories against two teams in the playoffs (Islanders and Nashville Predators), one in the hunt for a wildcard spot in the East (Montreal Canadiens) and a talented up-and-coming team (Buffalo).
Currently, the Blue Jackets (45-30-4, 94 points) have a one-point lead over the Hurricanes and two-point cushion between them and the Canadiens for the No. 1 wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with three games remaining, including tonight’s home finale against the Bruins, as well as a back-to-back away from home against the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators Friday and Saturday.
