Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
The Florida Panthers face the Buffalo Sabres with both teams looking to improve on promising seasons. The Panthers have a 20-20-4 record while the Sabres have a 21-18-2 record and are in the middle of the Atlantic Division. Both teams look to improve in the division and the Eastern Conference and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Panthers are having a rough season despite their offense stepping up and scoring 3.25 goals per game. Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Carter Verhaeghe have scored 52 goals and 68 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has also stepped up. Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and Eetu Luostarinen have combined for 31 goals and 45 assists while defensemen Brandon Montour and Gustav Forsling have added 17 goals and 44 assists from the point to open up the offense.
The offense has stepped up but the defense has let the Panthers down this season, allowing 3.43 goals per game with 16 goals in the last four games. Gustav Forsling and Joshua Mahura have combined for 4.7 defensive point shares but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net at will. Additionally, goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has struggled with a .896 save percentage and a 3.27 goals-against average on 809 shots.