Panthers Defense Must Stand Tall Against Struggling Bruins

The Florida Panthers (8-4-5, 21 points) are back in action Tuesday when they travel to Boston (11-3-3, 25 points) to finish out a three game road trip.

Florida has split the first two games and are coming off an exciting 6-5 shootout win over the New York Rangers.

Guys, there were so many goals today we could barely fit them all on this winfographic. Enjoy! 😄 pic.twitter.com/WOkPzDM4Zn

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) November 11, 2019

Evgenii Davodov tied a career high in the win with three points on a goal and two assists.

Boston leads the Atlantic Division with those 25 points while Florida is right in the middle of the pack, which is a better place than in recent years where they occupied the cellar early in the season.

The Panthers and Bruins are tied for 5th in the NHL in scoring with 60 goals, both teams have played 17 games entering Tuesday.

Where the difference lies is in goals allowed, Florida is tied for the fourth most goals allowed (also 60) while Boston has surrendered just 41.

That’s the difference between being second in goals allowed per game for Boston (2.41GAA) versus 26th in GAA for the Panthers (3.53).

Florida allows the ninth fewest shots against per game (30.2) so the conversion percentage for their opponents is an issue.

#FlaPanthers forward lines from my peeps in Boston:

Huberdeau – Barkov – Dadonov
Hoffman – Boyle – Connolly
Vatrano – Trocheck – Malgin
Hunt – Acciari – Sceviour

— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) November 12, 2019

The Panthers defense has allowed at least five goals in seven games already, winning just once (against the Rangers this week).

Newly acquired goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (6-3-4, 3.39GAA, .884SV%) has struggled and his numbers are well below his career averages.

Florida’s offense has not been the issue and the recent resurgence of captain Aleksander Barkov has helped carry the team through inconsistent defensive efforts.

After not scoring a goal in his first 12 games this year, Barkov has found the net in five straight contests and leads the Panthers with 22 points overall.

Aleksander Barkov is the fifth different player in @FlaPanthers franchise history to register a goal streak of at least five games. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/CRxeDvIQar

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 10, 2019

Boston is in their own funk at the moment, losing three in a row following a six game win streak. The Bruins are banged up with forwards Jake Debrusk and David Backes hitting injured reserve this week.

They are still plenty of weapons for Boston as top scorers David Pastrnak (15 goals, 15 assists) and Brad Marchand (11 goals, 18 assists) are ever dangerous.

Pastrnak has six points in his last five games but none in the previous two losses, while Marchand has four goals and four assists in his last five outings.

Puck drops from the TD Garden in Boston at 7:00PM. Make sure to check out Alex Donno on the pre and post game broadcasts on 560 WQAM as well.

.@FlaPanthers Radio Tonight 7PM @ Boston:@560WQAM (Dade/Broward)@FoxSports640 (Palm Beach)@WAXE1370 (Treasure Coast)
100.3 #ThunderCountry (Keys)@NHL App@SIRIUSXM Streaming 932

Hear from Coach Q & more before puck drop!#flapanthers

— Doug Plagens (@DougPlagens) November 12, 2019