Panthers face must-win scenario against Wild Card-holding Sabres after recent skid, with key forwards once again sidelined.
It was a frustrating end to January for the Florida Panthers.
After reeling off wins in six of eight, Florida appeared to be rounding a corner and building some momentum heading into an extremely crucial point of the season.
That was until the past week, when the Panthers dropped each of their three games, two of which coming on home ice and all by a single goal.
Before the defeats, Florida had climbed to within three points of the second Wild Card spot (which was Boston at the time), with a game in hand, and four points back of third place in the Atlantic Division (back then it was Buffalo).
Fast forward to now, where the Cats enter play on Monday eight points behind the Sabres, who hold the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and ten points back of third-place Montreal with one game in hand.
With only 28 games remaining on their schedule, it’s getting to the point where Florida is losing any margin for error in terms of failing to accumulate points in the standings. Losing three straight games to teams who all had less points than the Panthers is something that simply can’t happen.
This will be the third of four meetings between Florida and Buffalo this season.
A 3-0 road loss to the Sabres back on Oct. 18 capped an early-season four-game losing streak for the Cats, while Florida picked up a 4-3 win in Buffalo on Jan. 12 that was actually the first home loss for the Sabres in about six weeks.
When the Panthers hit the ice on Monday they’ll be in the familiar position of shorthanded thanks to another pair of key forwards missing the game.
Both Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell are considered day-to-day and could play before the NHL breaks for the Olympics, but it won’t be against Buffalo.
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Photo caption: Jan 12, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) controls the puck during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. (Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images)