The Florida Panthers suffered another defeat, losing 5-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. The scoreline could have been far worse if it hadn't been for the play of veteran Brad Marchand.

Marchand might still be considered a newcomer on the Panthers, but the 17-year veteran has been dominating the NHL for a while now, and he doesn't look like he's stopping any time soon.

The 37-year-old leads the Panthers in goals and points, with five goals and 10 points in nine games. The next closest in goals is Sam Reinhart with three, and in points, it's Anton Lundell with seven. Last night against the Penguins, Marchand scored twice, fired seven shots on goal and threw three hits in 22:11 of ice time. 

Marchand was the most engaged Panthers player, a familiar sight through the first nine games of the season. The Panthers are beyond happy to see Marchand continue to perform at a high level, considering they signed him to a six-year, $5.25-million contract in the off-season. 

The Panthers were likely a bit unfortunate to lose last night's contest. The Panthers outshot the Penguins 37-16 and 18-4 in the third period. If it weren't for the heroics of Tristan Jarry and the clinical finishing by the Penguins, the Panthers likely would have walked out of that game with two points. 

"They just seemed to capitalize on their opportunities," said Marchand. "We controlled from after the first period on. We really controlled that game. It just seemed like every time we pushed, they’d make one play."

That's how the NHL works sometimes. The Panthers were reminded that controlling the play doesn't always equate to wins. They gave up two power play goals and three 5-on-5 goals, which were too much to erase. Another aspect the Panthers are re-learning is that one player can't carry the offensive load on his own.

Lundell and Mackie Samoskevich have done a solid job of contributing to the offensive production, but the rest of the roster is lacking. The on-ice expected goals percentage of Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, and Evan Rodrigues is slightly better than Marchand's, according to Natural Stat Trick, but the production is nowhere close. 

The four have combined for eight goals and 13 points.

Marchand has been a force offensively without compromising his defensive game. Without Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, offense was always going to be harder to come by. And while Marchand is negating some of those losses, they need more from others. 

Three Panthers Players Who Need To Up Their Production The Florida Panthers aren't scoring enough goals, and these three players need to up their production if they are going to end their current losing streak.