Panthers Prepare to Take on NHL-Best Jets in Potential Stanley Cup Final Preview – The Hockey Writers Florida Panthers Latest News, Analysis & More

The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers look to get back to their winning ways. After winning seven straight games, they’ve lost their last two to the New Jersey Devils, allowing ten goals combined in those games. Despite that, they lead the Atlantic Division with a record of 11-5-1 and 23 points.

Their next opponent on Saturday and Tuesday is no cakewalk. They have to find a way to take down the best team in the NHL, and head coach Paul Maurice’s former team, the Winnipeg Jets. They are currently off to a historic start with a 15-2-0 record through 17 games. They are the first team in NHL history to start 15-1-0. History is also not on the Cats’ side either as they’ve lost four straight against them over the last two seasons.

Offensive Firepower Is Strong on Both Ends

The Jet’s offense has been flying high much like a fighter jet. They currently lead the league in overall goals with 74, power play effectiveness at a 38% conversion rate, goal differential with a plus-36, and goals per game with an insane average of 4.35 goals per game. Forwards Nikolaj Ehlers (nine goals, 11 assists), Mark Scheifele (nine goals, 12 assists), and Kyle Connor, (11 goals and assists) all have above 20 points. Furthermore, Connor’s goal total is tied for the seventh-best in the league. Also, center Adam Lowry is fifth in the league in plus/minus with a plus-13 rating. Their offense has been flying high for their squad.

But that does not mean the Panthers are a pushover. Florida is tied for the seventh-best goals-for-average in the league with an average of 3.53 goals per game. They’re also tied for sixth in goals scored overall with 60 and have the eighth-best power play with a 23.1% success rate. “Sam’s Club” has been open for business as of late as Sam Bennett (nine goals) and Sam Reinhart (13 goals) are the top two forwards on the Cats in goal scoring. Reinhart’s goal total is currently the best in the NHL. They’ve also collected points from their stars in Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk with a combined 25 points (six goals, 19 assists).

Defense Shows Interesting Stories for Both Teams

The Jets have an interesting enigma when it comes to their defense. They currently lead all teams in goals-against average (GAA) with 2.24 a game allowed. But their shots allowed and their penalty kill tells a different story. They are in the top half of the NHL at allowing shots at 14th with 29.4 shots per game and their penalty kill is 15th across the league with an 80.5% kill rate. Additionally, they rank 15th in expected goals against per game (xGAA) with 2.39 a game. However, that does not discredit the defensive core of the team as all but one defenseman has a positive plus/minus with Neal Pionk leading the way at a plus-11 rating.

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The Panthers’ defense under Maurice has shown how strong it can be but the stats as of late don’t back that up. Their penalty kill is sharp at 10th best in the league with an 82.4% kill rate. But they fall flat in other departments. They are tied for the ninth-worst GAA in the league with 3.29 a game and total goals allowed with 56. In shots allowed per game, they’re not bad with 28.4 allowed per game. That makes for the 12th-best in the NHL. Their xGAA tells the same story with only 2.37 expected per match, making it the 13th-best in the league. The defense is led by defenseman Gustav Forsling, who leads the team in plus/minus with a plus-10 rating.

Goaltending Will be an All-Star Matchup

The Jets’ starting goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is showing fans why he won the Vezina Trophy last season. He currently leads the league in GAA with 1.92, save percentage (SV%) with .934, wins with 12, and shutouts with three. His backup, Eric Comrie has also managed to get the job done with three wins in four starts.

The Cats’ rock in net in Sergei Bobrovsky has played well over the course of the season and was a huge part of winning the Panthers their first Stanley Cup. But, his stats are slightly inflated. He is third in the league in wins with eight on the year, but he has a 3.14 GAA and a .889 SV%. His backup in the young Spencer Knight is showing signs of returning to form as he has three wins on the season.

Can the Cats Take Down the Jets?

Florida has shown for the past couple of seasons they can go toe-to-toe with the league’s best and come out on top. However, it ultimately depends on what they learned from their last two losses. If they can clamp down defensively and pepper the net with quality shots, they can get back to their winning ways.

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They are the defending Stanley Cup champions for a reason and the best way to show why is to take down the best in the NHL this season so far.