The Florida Panthers got another phenomenal showing from Sergei Bobrovsky on Friday night, leveraging a 26-for-27 save performance en route to a 3-1 win in front of the 18,640 in attendance at Amerant Bank Arena.

Cats head coach Paul Maurice admitted afterwards that if it wasn't for the Russian star, it could have been a completely different game.

“I think our goaltending has been really good this year, but there haven’t been a lot of nights where we needed them to be the dominant player,” Florida's bench boss explained regarding Bobrovsky, per The Associated Press. “But tonight, Sergei had to be the difference in the second period because that game is over and there is no coming back if he isn’t as good as he was.”

Bobrovsky made 10 of his 26 saves in the middle frame, including a couple of robberies to keep it close.

Eetu Luostarinen would end up scoring the go-ahead goal in the third period, helping the Panthers improve to 16-8-2. They've picked up at least a point in seven of their last 10, jumping into second place in the Atlantic Division in the process.

Sergei Bobrovsky stones Sidney Crosby

Penguins star Sidney Crosby in the foreground looking defeated.

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Immediately after Luostarinen gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead, Sidney Crosby had a glorious chance to tie things up. He stole a deep clearing pass and walked in from the left side, ripping a shot from the circle which Bobrovsky took care of to preserve the one-goal lead.

“He’s such a smart player,” Bobrovsky said about one of the greatest hockey players of all time, per AP. “He was able to gain speed from pretty much nothing. I was just able to put the pad out and get lucky there.”

Although Bobrovsky has notoriously struggled in the regular season since signing a megadeal in Sunrise, he's been lights out this year, and a huge reason why the team is having so much success.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Sasha Barkov rounded out the scoring for a Cats team that has won three of four, while Anton Lundell picked up two assists.

Paul Maurice's team will look to keep the good times rolling in Columbus against the Boone Jenner-less Blue Jackets on Sunday afternoon. It's the start of a season-high five-game road trip, a place where the Panthers are 7-4-2 this year.