Panthers' Sergei Bobrovsky gets pulled after allowing 5 goals in Stanley Cup Final Game 4

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Paul Maurice had seen enough after Sergei Bobrovsky allowed his fifth goal in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, deciding to pull the Florida Panthers goaltender who was the biggest reason the team is one win from a championship.

Bobrovsky allowed five on 16 shots, and his coach thought it was high time to give him a rest and put backup Anthony Stolarz in five minutes into the second period. Stolarz allowed three more in the Panthers' 8-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night that sends the series back to Florida for Game 5.

“If you think you’re mounting a comeback, rarely does the goalie make a difference for you: There’s something that happens at the other end of the ice,” Maurice said. "He’s played an awful lot of hockey. My number on Bob’s probably five (goals allowed) in general. That was the decision.”

Bobrovsky had stopped 82 of the 86 shots he faced through the first three games of the final and is, along with captain Aleksander Barkov, a leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He allowed more goals in 25 minutes of this one than the rest of the series combined, leading to derisive taunts of “Sergei! Sergei!” from the home crowd.

“Everyone is human,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “You have to keep going, have to keep getting your looks and eventually something is going to go in. Obviously we got good looks tonight and were able to beat him.”

Bobrovsky was not at his best, but neither were the Panthers players in front of him. Mattias Janmark's short-handed goal three minutes in came on a 2-on-1 rush, and there were plenty of other mistakes that contributed to giving Edmonton so many good looks that they cashed in on.

It was not great ‘Bob,’ but teammates were quick to take the blame off Bobrovsky for getting the hook.

“He’s been unbelievable all year, all playoffs,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “It was more of a wake-up call to everybody. We know he’s going to come back better than ever and, with that being said, none of them were his fault. I still thought he made some unreal saves.”

Stolarz, who coincidentally was taken with the 2012 second-round pick Philadelphia got for trading Bobrovsky more than a decade ago, made 16 saves in his NHL playoff debut.

“He was good,” Maurice said. "The guy’s watched a lot of hockey for a while. That’s what you need. He comes in and he’s going to battle his butt off. It was great for him to get in. There are not a lot of silver linings here, people, but ‘Bob’ got some rest. I’ll take that.”

There's very little rest to come for the Panthers, who have another chance to close out the series and hoist the Stanley Cup in Game 5 back in Sunrise on Tuesday night.

“There’s many things we can do a lot better," Barkov said. “We probably got outworked. They got too many rush chances. I think we’ve always been good in defending rushes and I think they got some rush chances that we really need to not give up. But obviously the game’s over now. All we need to do is just recover and think about the next one.”

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) looks on as Edmonton Oilers' Zach Hyman (18) celebrates a goal during the second period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky gives up a goal to the Edmonton Oilers during the second period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers' Connor Brown (28) works to get the puck around Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) and Brandon Montour (62) during the first period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) is scored on by Edmonton Oilers' Dylan Holloway (55) during the first period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) gives up a goal to Edmonton Oilers' Adam Henrique (19) during the first period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Several hundred immigrants have been charged with unauthorized access to a newly designated militarized zone along the southern U.S. border in New Mexico and western Texas since the Department of Justice introduced the new approach in late April.

President Donald Trump's administration has transferred oversight of a strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border to the military while authorizing U.S. troops to temporarily detain immigrants in the country illegally — though there's no record of troops exercising that authority as U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducts arrests. The designated national defense areas are overseen by U.S. Army commands out of Fort Bliss in the El Paso area in Texas and Fort Huachuca in Arizona.

The novel national security charges against immigrants who enter through those militarized zones carry a potential sentence of 18 months in prison on top of a possible six month sentence for illegal entry. The full implications are unclear for migrants who pursue legal status through separate proceedings in federal immigration court.

The Trump administration is seeking to accelerate mass removals of immigrants in the country illegally and third-country deportations, including Venezuelans sent to an El Salvador prison amid accusations of gang affiliation. The administration has deployed thousands of troops to the border, while arrests have plunged to the lowest levels since the mid-1960s.

The federal public defender's office in Las Cruces indicates that roughly 400 cases had been filed in criminal court there as of Tuesday as it seeks dismissal of the misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor charges for violating security regulations and entering restricted military property. Court records show that federal prosecutors in Texas — where a National Defense Area extends about 60 miles (97 kilometers) from El Paso to Fort Hancock — last week began filing the military security charges as well.

Las Cruces-based federal Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth is asking for input from federal prosecutors and public defense attorneys on the standard of proof for the trespassing charges “given the unprecedented nature of prosecuting such offenses in this factual context.”

Public defenders say there needs to be proof that immigrants knew of the military restrictions and acted “in defiance of that regulation for some nefarious or bad purpose.”

New Mexico-based U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, appointed in April, says hundreds of "restricted area" signs have been posted in Spanish and English to warn that entry is prohibited by the Department of Defense, along New Mexico's nearly 180-mile (290-kilometer) stretch of border.

In a court filings, Ellison has said there's no danger of ensnaring innocent people when it comes to immigrants who avoid ports of entry to cross the border in willful violation of federal law — and now military regulations.

ACLU attorney Rebecca Sheff said basic freedoms are at risk as the government flexes its power at the border and restricts civilian access.

“The extension of military bases ... it's a serious restriction, it's a serious impact on families that live in the border area,” she said.

The Department of Justice has warned Wormuth against issuing an advisory opinion on legal standards for trespassing in the military area.

“The New Mexico National Defense Area is a crucial installation necessary to strengthen the authority of servicemembers to help secure our borders and safeguard the country,” Ellison said in a court briefing.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico expressed concern Wednesday in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that anyone may be stopped and detained by U.S. Army soldiers for entering a 170-square-mile (440-square-kilometer) area along the border previously overseen by the Department of Interior and frequently used for recreation and livestock ranching.

Hegseth has emphasizing a hard-line approach to enforcement.

“Let me be clear: if you cross into the National Defense Area, you will be charged to the FULLEST extent of the law,” he said in a post on the social platform X.

Associated Press reporter Valerie Gonzalez contributed from McAllen, Texas.

FILE - Army soldiers look at the border wall next to a surveillance vehicle during the visit to the U.S. and Mexico border by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Sunland Park, N.M., Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)