In the moment, kept the game tied. By night鈥檚 end, it became a game-saver since Florida went on to prevail in overtime.

And the way Panthers coach Paul Maurice sees it, the impact from on Tuesday night will only continue 鈥� with a reach beyond these NHL playoffs and this series between Florida and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It won a game. It may grow the game, too.

鈥淭here鈥檒l be a number of kids in the driveway this weekend and they鈥檒l all want to play goal for the first time,鈥� Maurice said. 鈥淔or me, that鈥檚 how it happens. They see something kind of magical and have to go and try it, right? You get five kids and there鈥檒l be a street hockey game going somewhere, everybody鈥檚 going to want to be Bobrovsky, they鈥檒l be flipping around the net, trying to do the spin-o-rama kick saves.鈥�

Memo to those kids: Good luck.

The hyperbole kept coming Wednesday: some were calling it, a play on Bobrovsky鈥檚 last name and obvious nickname 鈥� Bob. Save of the playoffs, others said. Save of the year, save of all-time, you get the idea. It was that good, so good that even the Lightning had to tip their collective caps out of respect.

鈥淗ell of a save,鈥� Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said.

There have been something like 4 million saves in NHL history, and Bobrovsky is responsible for 20,681 of them. There鈥檚 no definitive ranking of them all, of course, but in this moment anyway, Bobrovsky鈥檚 鈥渉ow-did-he-do-that?鈥� play stands alone.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 the best save I鈥檝e ever seen in my life,鈥� Florida鈥檚 Vladimir Tarasenko said Wednesday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing. I don鈥檛 know what else to say.鈥�

Even retired football star took notice. 鈥淲hat a damn save,鈥� he wrote on social media.

Bobrovsky made the save like this: He was facing left, looking at Stamkos, who had the puck relatively close to the net. Stamkos saw tons of clear ice on the other side of the slot and sent the puck into unoccupied space, where Lightning defenseman Matt Dumba tapped a backhander from maybe 10 feet away toward what was a wide-open net.

Key word: Was. Bobrovsky 鈥� out of 鈥渄esperation,鈥� he鈥檇 say later 鈥� dove backward across the goal mouth, reached out blindly with his left wrist and somehow got his glove side in the way of Dumba鈥檚 shot to keep the game tied at 2-2. It wound up being a game-saver; the Panthers got a goal from for a

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lifetime of working your (butt) off, the ability to know where your body is so that mentally you wouldn鈥檛 quit on that play, that you would think you still have a chance to stop that puck,鈥� Maurice said.

Panthers forward Anton Lundell was far more succinct: 鈥淧retty sick,鈥� he said.

That was 鈥渟ick鈥� in the good sense. The Lightning probably just felt sick in the conventional sense 鈥� especially since their goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy, was basically a brick wall for most of the evening as well. Vasilevskiy didn鈥檛 have the flying, flailing save like Bobrovsky, but he stoned Florida鈥檚 offense for the entirety of the second and third periods to give the Lightning a chance.

Florida leads the series 2-0; Game 3 is in Tampa on Thursday.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been unbelievable goaltending. I think that鈥檚 been the highlight of the entire series, back and forth,鈥� Lightning forward Brandon Hagel said Wednesday. 鈥淲e鈥檝e obviously got Vasi; as we say, the best goaltender in the league, and they鈥檝e got a really good goaltender over there. It鈥檚 going to be tough to get pucks by him and it鈥檚 going to be tough to get pucks by our goalie as well. Hopefully we can just maybe try to get one more past them than they do us.鈥�

It鈥檚 rare that teams will praise the other side during a series; that鈥檚 often reserved for when it鈥檚 over and the traditional handshakes have happened. But the Lightning lauded Bobrovsky after what he did Tuesday, and in turn, the Panthers raved about Vasilevskiy as well.

鈥淏oth goalies were so good in that game,鈥� Maurice said. 鈥淎nd the ones that didn鈥檛 look like much might be the best saves, given the amount of work that you had to be tactically right on time when you got there. Some outstanding saves.鈥�

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