from Travis Yost of TSN,

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 10 wins away from a Stanley Cup, and no player has been more critical to their team success than goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

It is, in some ways, a funny redemption story. Bobrovsky has long been considered one of the league’s premier goaltenders, but he has routinely been on the receiving end of harsh criticism after most of Columbus’ postseason flameouts.

Some of that is understandable. Despite his consistent regular-season numbers, Bobrovsky’s playoff performance always paled in comparison. Perhaps no better example exists than Columbus’ first-round exit in 2016-17, where Bobrovsky­ – who had stopped 93.1 per cent of shots en route to the Vezina Trophy – had a miserable time against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Bobrovsky stopped just 88.2 per cent of shots, and his reputation as a playoff dud solidified.

The playoffs are all about micro-analyzing tiny samples of data and, unfortunately, that can take us down a dark path from time to time. It certainly did in the case of Bobrovsky. One of the league’s better goaltenders carried the reputation of a playoff choker on the basis of just 24 games.

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