More Top Players Missing Makes Florida Panthers Playoff Road Tougher

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers were feeling pretty good about themselves at this time last week.

Three straight wins on the road — in places they had not had much success in recently — had the Panthers looking like themselves again.

After beating the Blackhawks in Chicago last Sunday night, the Panthers flew home three points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with two of the next three at home.

Those three games, it should be noted, included games against St. Louis and Winnipeg — teams struggling and out of the playoff race in a weak Western Conference.

The boys, as they say, were back.

Only what a crummy week it turned out to be.

The Panthers lost all three of those games, including a heartbreaker to the Blues in the final seconds on Thursday night, and find themselves eight points back of that final playoff spot going into Sunday.

On Saturday, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead on a Winnipeg team that did not seem to have much interest in playing early on — only to give up two goals on four shots in the third to lose 2-1.

The Panthers came into the game minus a number of their top players.

This has been the case all season.

Only being without Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand seemed too much for the Panthers to bear, the team struggling to get much going after Eetu Luostarinen deflected a floating wrist shot from Evan Rodrigues that gave them a 1-0 lead early in the opening period.

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The Panthers went into the third up 1-0 but a rebound goal in front of the net tied the score before a “flat-footed” breakaway off a line change with 4:24 left gave the Jets a 2-1 lead and a win.

When you are winning, momentum seems to follow you.

When things are not going well, you get the opposite effect.

And, Saturday.

“We were fine,” Luostarinen said, “and then a couple of sloppy plays or mistakes and they scored on us.

“Frustrating way to go down. If we’re not scoring more than 1, we have to keep our net clean and we didn’t do that today. It’s tough. We battled.”

Paul Maurice talked pregame about games like Saturday being ones the Panthers have to look at like playoff games and, well, the Panthers did appear to give it their all.

But it certainly was not enough.

And it may end up costing them down the road.

The Panthers probably should have taken at least four of the six points available this week against Utah, St. Louis, and Winnipeg — yet got nothing.

Losing twice to the Blues not to mention the slopfest against a really crummy New York Rangers team at the Winter Classic on Jan. 2 may just be nights the Panthers look back on with serious regret.

Or, at the end of the day, these losses are just a footnote in the story of the 2025-26 Panthers.

Yeah, every game is a battle in today’s NHL.

But 7-8 in January against a lot of teams the Panthers should have taken care of business against could turn out to be the story of this season.

“They are a good team, too. They get paid to play,’’ Luostarinen said of the Jets.

“It’s frustrating, but we have to look ahead and make a real push here before the break.’’

Ah yes, the break.

The Panthers have three games left before the three-week Olympic break hits and, at least right now, are eight points back of Buffalo and Boston (the next two teams the Panthers face) for the final playoff spot.

One good thing to come out of Saturday was Montreal beating the Sabres in regulation.

The Panthers are certainly scoreboard watching these days even with 38 games left.

That’s the way things are these days.

And, things can turn around in a hurry.

Just look at the Columbus Blue Jackets.

They were all but done a few weeks ago, and are now ahead of the Panthers — albeit slightly — in the standings.

The Penguins were also considered done for before winning some games this month to get back into the fight.

Florida is the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, by the way.

If any team can turn their fortunes around in a hurry, it’s the Panthers even missing as many players as they are.

“It’s tight right now with some of our challenges,’’ Maurice said, sounding a little like he did in 2023 when the Panthers had to make a late run to make the postseason.

“We just have to keep the faith. Maybe that’s the test of where we’re at, the thing we do to win this year is to keep your belief and keep your fight, even when it’s going against you.”

Unlike that 2022-23 Florida team, these Panthers just are not healthy.

Sasha Barkov and Seth Jones aren’t coming back this week — but will Lundell and/or Marchand be available to help Florida?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

‘They are both day-to-day,” Maurice said pregame.

“Every day is important for them to get some rest. There is a possibility we see at least one of them come back.”

On Monday, the Panthers play the Sabres.

Then the Bruins.

And the Lightning on Thursday.

With three games in four days, the Panthers do have a chance to pick up some ground in the playoff race before the long Olympic break — one in which nine of their healthy players will get no rest by flying to and playing in Italy.

But that’s a worry for another day.

The Panthers can only worry about Monday night against the Sabres.

“We’ll tape a few guys,’’ Maurice said, “and see what we can put together.”

ON DECK: GAME No. 55

BUFFALO SABRES at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Monday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WPTV 5/WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+; ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season: Panthers Won 3-1
• This Season (Tied 1-1) — At Buffalo: Sabres 3, Panthers 0 (Oct. 13); Panthers 4, Sabres 3 (Jan. 13). At Florida: Monday; Feb. 27.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 61-47-8, 4 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Wednesday vs. Boston Bruins, 7