Despite missing several key blueliners, Florida is playing incredibly solid and consistent team defense

The Florida Panthers are 14 games into the NHL season with a 9-4-1 record.

For a team that lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final, had a short offseason and several injuries to key players that had them sidelined to start this season, many would be pleased with the team's start.

“I am pleased with where we are at based on what it was going to look like,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said on Friday. “There is an expectation that if you play 10 months last year, you have a better handle of your structure.”

The Panthers are one step closer to being healthier as Sam Bennett made his return to the lineup on Sunday in the teams 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Bennett had only played one period this season, on Oct. 30 against Boston.

Prior to that, he missed the first seven games of the season after sustaining a lower body injury in the second-to-last preseason game against Tampa Bay.

Bennett played 16:51 of ice time during Sunday’s win over Chicago and had two blocked shots and a hit in his return.

There is more coming along the way.

Maurice also said that there is a chance defensemen Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad could return to the lineup as early as the last game of their California trip coming up, but likely only one of them will return.

Montour in the latter half of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was not scoring at a high rate, but his defensive game, and leading a power play, was what helped the Panthers advance to the final round.

The Panthers over the last few seasons have been known as a team whose game relied on high-octane offense.

The Panthers were second in the NHL in goals by a defenseman in 2022-23, so with the offensive production of Montour and Ekblad missing, it was necessary for the team to go for a more defense-first approach.

It was what made them successful in their ability to win close games in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs either way, so this is not something new.

The team welcomed in a few new faces to their defense in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, a guy who has a long reach and big frame in Niko Mikkola, Dmitry Kulikov (currently in his second stint with Florida), Uvis Balinskis and Mike Reilly.

What has that corps, along with returning guys in Gustav Forsling and Josh Mahura, along with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, done defensively?

The team is ninth in the league in goals against through 14 games and are in the top five in least amount of penalties against this season.

The penalty kill percentage does not tell the whole story, where they are currently at 21st in the NHL.

The Panthers keep the game at even strength a good amount of time, where they are currently a plus-five and spend a lot of time in the opposing team’s zone.

The ability to force teams to the perimeter, whether it is pinning towards the half walls on entries, and battles in the corners to dump the puck out of the zone, the defense corps has answered the call.

The defense has been very opportunistic on the offensive end at times, recently with Balinskis getting his first as a Panther in the team’s 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead at the time.

“After the first game (of the season), I was a little bit overwhelmed,” Balinskis admitted. “Ever since the first game, it’s been up and better.”

Ekman-Larsson, Mikkola, and Kulikov each have 15 blocked shots or more this season, so they are doing the job in protecting the front of the blue paint.

There is also another area where a team can really give itself even more of a chance to win. It’s not only when a goaltender does not allow a rebound opportunity, but when they do, they are either quick to cover it for a whistle, or the defense is there to clear the puck from danger.

Florida is in the top 10 in not allowing rebound shot opportunities, meaning the higher percentage shots that usually come from high danger areas are not happening often for its opposition.

A metric that Maurice says that he keeps an eye on to see how well his team is playing defensively is expected goals against at even strength, which he discussed after Florida’s morning skate on Friday at Amerant Bank Arena.

Despite the offense not producing to the levels that they have in the past few seasons, the new defensensive corps, along with forwards like Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Eetu Luostarinen Kevin Stenlund and Matthew Tkachuk, are also getting the job done.

The line of Reinhart, Barkov, and newcomer Evan Rodrigues has been the best defensive forward group this season. It’s a group the coaching staff counts on for heavy minutes in all situations.

At 5-on-5, the Panthers top line has only given up two goals against in 122 minutes played. A forward group who is not necessarily the biggest, but still physical and quick to backcheck in transition makes it easier on their newcomers on defense as well.

“It’s easy with those two, they’re smart players,” Barkov said when asked about growing chemistry with his linemates. “They don’t have weaknesses in their games. They create chances in the offensive zone, they’re in the right spot in the defensive zone. I’m really lucky to play with them.”

Tkachuk mentioned during Panthers media day back in September that he would be satisfied with his overall game if his point production went down, but there was a step up in his defensive game, and it has shown despite his line having a revolving door at center this season with injuries and line shuffles. The offensive production has now recently caught up, with Tkachuk playing at nearly a point per game pace, logging 3 goals and 12 assists through 14 games.

Two other players who have stepped up in key roles this season have been Stenlund and Luostarinen, who are mostly paired when the Panthers are on the penalty kill. They deny the opposition's zone entries, along with getting in front of pucks to get a clear for the next unit to get on the ice.

“I thought Eetu Luostarinen had his best game of the season tonight.” Maurice said following Friday’s win over Carolina.

Florida’s penalty kill went a perfect three for three that night, as well as not giving up a single shot on goal while down a man.

It continued into Sunday’s matchup against Chicago where they went two for two on the PK.

Florida has not allowed a goal on the penalty kill in six of their last eight games, so that is a unit that is slowly coming to form.

The overall team defense has been the foundation of what the Panthers built from their run to the Stanley Cup Final, and it sure has continued as the team has weathered the storms with major injuries. 

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