Sergei Bobrovsky

In no other sport can one player playing one position dictate the outcome of a game with his play as can the goaltender in hockey. A soccer goalkeeper does not see a a fifth the chances to win or lose a match as a hockey goaltender does. A tackle football quarterback doesn’t play half the game. A baseball pitcher, even the best that ever was, pitches every four, or three at most, games that his team plays. The GOAT in pro basketball does not play alone; he cannot score every point nor single-handidly hold the other team scoreless. 

Only a hockey goaltender can do those things, and do them alone, and Sergei Bobrovsky did those things and did them alone tonight. This was one of the great performances in Stanley Cup Finals history but one of them. It’s not unique, it’s not necessarily the greatest ever. It is the structure and makeup of the game that makes performances like Bobrovsky’s tonight not only possible of replication, but replicated in the past by other goaltenders who played out of their minds. 

Florida knows that it can’t count on replication by Bobrovsky; they don’t think that they are going to get completely outclassed five-on-five again. But Edmonton knows the equal and opposite: that it is reasonable that Bobrovsky will be the reason that they lose the Stanley Cup. They are one-quarter the way to losing already. They know that their skaters cannot play any better than they did tonight. And they know that it is unlikely that Florida’s skaters will be as comparatively amateurish as they were tonight. They are equal and opposite concerns that the two teams have, but Edmonton has the bigger concern for they are down 1-0.