Dmitry Kulikov says the Florida Panthers have to win the defensive side first heading into tonight's game at Winnipeg, and the numbers back him up.
The veteran blueliner put the focus on how the Panthers start. Defense first, offense second.
It's a message that lands for a team sitting 6-4-2 through 12 games. Florida is 15th in the NHL and 6th in the Atlantic Division with 14 points.
Look at the goal column and you see why Kulikov is talking about it. The Panthers have scored 34 and allowed 36, a -2 differential.
That's a team trading chances, not controlling them. Not exactly the profile of a club that wants to live on its offense.
Kulikov is 35 and has played 1,049 regular-season games. He knows what a defensive structure looks like when it's working.
Florida got a win on Sunday, 3-2 at Chicago, and it was tight. One goal separated the Panthers from the Blackhawks on a night when the defensive details mattered.
Why the road trip tests Florida's defensive reset
Tonight's game is another road date. The Panthers are 4-3-2 away from home, compared with 2-1-0 at home.
Road games ask for exactly what Kulikov described. Start clean, defend hard, and let the offense come from there.
Kulikov's own line this season is modest. He has 0 goals and 2 assists in 12 games, with a -2 rating and 12 penalty minutes.
That's not the point of his game, though. Nobody signs a 35-year-old defenseman at a $1,180,000 cap hit expecting him to drive the power play.
His role is to keep the back end honest. When the Panthers give up 36 goals in 12 games, that job matters more.
Here's the question. Is Kulikov talking about a team philosophy, or quietly pointing at a problem?
Paul Maurice has a team that is 5-4-1 over its last 10. Win the first few minutes tonight in Winnipeg and the identity Kulikov described starts to look real.
Kulikov made the message clear in the team's post.
Hold on, though. Words are easy in October. The next few games will show whether the Panthers actually defend the way their veteran says they must.
Is Dmitry Kulikov right that the Panthers' defense has to dictate everything they do offensively?
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