[Cali Panthers Fan]

So here's my brief analysis of the Panthers a few games into the season.

This is a team that can score. They are 9th in the league early on with 3.22 GF/G, and that's without Barkov scoring a single goal yet (although he does have 8 assists). They have 3 legitimate lines that can score, as Connolly has come as advertised, and Malgin has taken a step forward.

The defense is a work in progress still as they rank 8th worst in GA/G. This is not an indictment on Bobrovsky who has been mostly very good (had one bad game to my memory) and has regularly made 10 bell saves most nights. This is a team defense issue, as it was last year. Some signs of progress are there, but the Panthers still give up a lot of high quality chances most nights, and I wonder if it will ever improve with the current personnel.

Coach Q has them working consistently hard every night, so they should not be taken lightly. However, his defensive strategies have not been consistently implemented and thus, the Panthers continue to be a middle of the pack team. If he gets any progress on that aspect this year, they should be a solid playoff team.

Basically, the Flames need to be ready to defend and counterattack. That's the way to beat the Panthers as they often make higher risk plays than necessary. Bobrovsky will bail them out quite a few times in a night, but at some point he will get beat.