The Panthers are in the midst of a very Panthers thing that they tend to do, which is play inconsistently.
After dropping their 2025 opener to the Carolina Hurricanes, they narrowly edged past the Pittsburgh Penguins in a SO of their last tilt.
Tonight they will take on an Avalanche team that is playing pretty good hockey at the moment. Sitting in fourth of the Central Division, the 24-15-1 Avalanche are led by surging Nathan MacKinnon, who is currently on a seven-game point streak to add to his league-leading 65 points.
One of the issues with Florida’s lack on consistency in the win column has to do with their big guns not being able to find the back of the net - specifically Carter Verhaege, who only has nine goals throughout 40 games.
Per the
Miami Herald:
“
Over this eight-game drought, during which he does have three assists, Verhaeghe has logged 23 scoring chances and 10 high-danger chances, according to the advanced hockey statistics website Natural Stat Trick. Those are both second on the team behind only Matthew Tkachuk (24 scoring chances, 11 high-danger chances). His 2.24 expected goals for in those eight games are third on the team behind Tkachuk (2.43) and Sam Bennett (2.32).”
With Mikkola and Ekblad’s status still unknown for tonight, it could be a tough game for Florida defensively with Colorado’s offensive game that is predicated on speed and skill…
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Good test tonight…Go Panthers!
Florida Panthers Blogger • 
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