Sam Bennett's upper-body injury compounds the Panthers' woes as their playoff hopes continue to dim.
When it rains, it pours.
That’s been the feeling around the Florida Panthers this season as the injury issues continue to pile up.
Already missing key forwards Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell, the Panthers saw another one of their vital pieces come out of a game with an injury.
Center Sam Bennett left Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres after the first period and did not return.
“It seems like somebody is getting injured every night,” said Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk. “I feel for him, that’s not ideal going out with an injury that early (in the game).”
He played seven shifts during the first period, logging 5:11 of ice time and going 2-for-4 in the faceoff circle.
Afterwards, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice did not have much of an update on Bennett’s injury.
“We’ll just leave it as upper-body,” Maurice said. “We’ll get a better handle on it tomorrow.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s because Maurice has given similar evaluations for many of Florida’s injured players this season.
The good news is that the NHL is about to take a league-wide pause during the 2026 Winter Olympics, giving players who aren’t participating a few weeks to rest and heal for the late-season push toward the playoffs.
The bad news is that Florida picked a horrible time to go on a losing streak and have all but fallen out of contention for a playoff spot.
Following Monday’s loss to Buffalo, the Panthers are now nine points behind Boston for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and they’re 11 points back of Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division, with one game in hand on both.
Florida has played 55 games, meaning they have only 27 remaining to make up all those points.
The next two outings for the Panthers, Wednesday against Boston and Thursday at Tampa Bay, are the only chances the Cats have to make up any ground before the Olympic break.
Adding Bennett to a Florida injured list that doesn’t seem to want to get any smaller is just the latest setback for the league’s back-to-back Stanley Cup Champs.
Without Bennett, the Panthers are now down all of their starting centers: Sasha Barkov, Bennett, Lundell and Tomas Nosek.
Surviving without key injured players is one challenge, but removing all of the center icemen on a team that plays a five-man defensive system like Florida is like trying to skate to the bench after your blade pops off the holder.
We'll see how things play out in the coming days and weeks, but the Panthers need to start piling up the points before its too late.
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Photo caption: Nov 22, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) moves the puck against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)