The Rat Trick
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Florida Panthers: Defensive Struggles Causing Chaos

By Mike McCanna

SUNRISE, FL - OCTOBER 13: Goaltender James Reimer #34 of the Florida Panthers defends the net with the help of teammate Aleksander Barkov #16 against Jay Beagle #83 of the Vancouver Canucks at the BB&T Center on October 13, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL - OCTOBER 13: Goaltender James Reimer #34 of the Florida Panthers defends the net with the help of teammate Aleksander Barkov #16 against Jay Beagle #83 of the Vancouver Canucks at the BB&T Center on October 13, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Horrendous Defending

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 24: Aaron Ekblad #5 of the Florida Panthers and Cal Clutterbuck #15 of the New York Islanders pursue the puck during the third period at the Barclays Center on October 24, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 24: Aaron Ekblad #5 of the Florida Panthers and Cal Clutterbuck #15 of the New York Islanders pursue the puck during the third period at the Barclays Center on October 24, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

In defense of the goalies, the Panthers defensive pairings have hung them out to dry. During this stretch of poor performances, the Panthers have allowed an average of 3.89 (basically 4) goals per game, a total of 35 goals in nine games.

After shuffling the lines several times, coach Boughner has struggled to find a consistent grouping of defensemen to be effective of a nightly basis. Arguably, the most consistent Panthers defensemen have been Alexander Petrovic and Bogdan Kiselevich.

Let me say this again… ALEXANDER PETROVIC has been a standout for the Panthers this season thus far.

Due to consistent turnovers and poor positioning, Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, and Mike Matheson have all been called into question. One of my personal favorite examples of the team’s turnover troubles is this beautiful assist from Ekblad to Philadelphia Flyer Claude Giroux.

I wish I could say this was an isolated incident and that the Panthers have been unlucky on the goals that have been scored against them. However, this isn’t the case.

Shot charts show the Panthers allow a significant amount of goals from directly in front of their own net:

Clearly, Panthers goalies often find themselves toe-to-toe with opposing offenses. This can only mean two things: either the Panthers defense is soft in the middle and pucks are allowed to move freely through the most dangerous area of the ice, or, the Cats give the puck away all the time and teams have consistent breakaway opportunities.

Both scenarios are awful.

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