FORT LAUDERDALE — Potentially on the verge of one of the greatest collapses in professional sports history, the Florida Panthers are not blaming goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for putting them in that position.

They believe it’s on themselves, and it’s up to them to get out of it when they take on the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday.

In the first three games of the Cup Final, Bobrovsky had a .953 save percentage, a 1.33 goals-against average and a shutout. Since Florida took its 3-0 lead, he is 0-3 with a .793 save percentage and a 5.06 goals-against average. He also was pulled five minutes into the second period of Game 4, the game that turned around this series.

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But past those numbers is a Panthers team that gave up a concerning number of rush chances to leave him out to dry — and that is what the rest of the team believes is behind the collapse.

“It’s definitely not his fault,” Matthew Tkachuk said after Sunday's practice. “I think it’s on us to tighten up defensively and get off to a better start. We have been trailing in each of the last three games, which might open you up a little bit and cause some more chances against, so we have to be a lot better in front of him and we will tomorrow.

“We expect all of us to play our best game of the year tomorrow and we certainly know that he’s really dialed in for us and has been for my whole two years here. He’s been outstanding the way he prepares, his focus. We’ve been talking the last few days after Game 6 with the players on how we can get better.”

In the past three games, Florida has been outscored 18-5 and has not held a lead. Bobrovsky arguably helped the Panthers stay in the game longer than they should have in Game 6, allowing just one goal in a first period where Florida was outshot 11-2. He finished the game with 16 saves on 19 shots in a 5-1 loss.

“I liked his last game,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I thought it was strong and solid. Now, we were kind to him and didn’t give them a shorthanded breakaway to start the game, that was good. We cut down on those to give him a chance and we’ll try that again tomorrow. But he looked good and I thought he was solid.”

Bobrovsky missed practice on Sunday — as did Aaron Ekblad — but it was more for routine-related reasons. He will be back on the ice for Monday’s morning skate and ready to go as the Panthers look to avoid becoming just the second team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 series lead in the Cup Final and lose the Stanley Cup on home ice.

Panthers make change on struggling power play

With Carter Verhaeghe struggling mightily in the Stanley Cup Final — scoring one goal and one assist in the series and just one goal in his past eight games — the Panthers have made another change to their power play.

Vladimir Tarasenko will flip to his spot in the shooter’s hole looking to ignite a power play that has been working at an abysmal 5.3 percent clip this postseason. It will be a challenge against an Oilers penalty kill that has been dominant (32-for-33) since the Western Conference final, working at a 94.7 percent clip in the Cup Final.

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“Their penalty kill is dialed in and is playing really well,” Aleksander Barkov said. “They played really well against Dallas and now they’re doing the same thing to us. Obviously, we have to recognize that and we’ve been talking about it and working on it. So tomorrow, just like everything else in our game, we just need to come out and play our best whether it’s 5-on-5 or on the power play.”

Tarasenko is also the only player in this series who has experience playing in Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final. He notched an assist in a 4-1 victory for the St. Louis Blues in their 2019 victory over the Boston Bruins on the night they won the championship. The Panthers hope that can give them an edge on Monday.

“It’s a different experience with the tension,” Brandon Montour said. “Vlad is a veteran player who helps everyone in this locker room and it’s huge to have him on our team. We had a Game 7 last year [vs. Boston] for the guys who were here. You got to treat it like one game. You gotta play simple but you gotta play to your game and you can’t get caught up with what they’re doing and what’s going on. It’s about the guys in this room and that’s what we intend to do.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Panthers backing Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Oilers in Stanley Cup Final Game 7