The Florida Panthers face the Chicago Blackhawks with both teams off to strong starts to the season. The Panthers are 4-1-1 and have one of the best records in the Atlantic Division. The Blackhawks started the season 0-2 but a three-game winning streak has them at 3-2 and suddenly in the middle of the Central Division. Both teams are looking to build off promising starts to the season and improve the records in their divisions and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Panthers are off to a great start to the season with their offense stepping up and scoring 3.17 goals per game. Matthew Tkachuk, Eetu Luostarinen, and Colin White have scored seven goals and 11 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has also looked great. Sam Bennett, Aleksander Barkov, and Rudolfs Balcers have combined for three goals and eight assists while defensemen Gustav Forsling and Brandon Montour have added two goals and six assists from the blue line to overwhelm opposing defenses.
The offense has stepped up but the defense has carried the Panthers recently, allowing only 2.83 goals per game including only five goals allowed in the last two games. Gustav Forsling and Josh Mahura have combined for 1.1 defensive point shares, 10 blocked shots, and 10 hits to lead the top two pairings but the rest of the defense has also stepped up with Brandon Montour, Radko G udas, and the rest of the defensive unit creating turnovers in the defensive zone and limiting shots on the net. Moreover, goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has looked great in the net with a .916 save percentage and a 2.79 goals-against average on 131 shots.