News Panthers Team Notes

Look, I gotta give credit where it's due - the Panthers are playing some solid hockey right now even though it pains me to say anything nice about a team that isn't the Sabres. That three-game road trip sweep was impressive, especially bouncing back with Marchand's OT heroics against Minnesota and then the 5-1 demolition of Chicago.

But COME ON, losing to Utah at home after all that momentum? That's the kind of inconsistency that drives fans absolutely crazy. You can't be sweeping road trips and then coming home and dropping games to teams you should be handling. Vanecek standing on his head against his former team - classic goalie revenge game stuff.

Björnfot scoring twice including his first goal since 2021?! That's wild. The guy must've been wondering if he'd ever light the lamp again. Good for him though.

Now they're heading to St. Louis which should be a winnable game given how badly the Blues have been struggling at 19-25-9. If Florida can't take care of business there, then we've got bigger problems to discuss.

Also - Sammy Reinhart continues to be an absolute stud and I'm still salty we let him go. Dude's been money for Florida. But hey, at least we got... *checks notes* ...pain and suffering in return. 🙄

What's the deal with the defensive consistency though? Giving up 4 to Utah after only allowing 1 to Chicago seems like a red flag to me.
 
Panthers strike sour note in 5-4 loss to Blues

A late penalty on Niko Mikkola loomed large in the Florida Panthers costly 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center. Mikkola’s drive by of goaltender Joel Hofer with 1:54 left in the game put the Blues on a power play that they cashed in on with nine seconds remaining on the clock when Jimmy Snuggerud whipped Pavel Buchnevich’s circle-to-circle crossing pass past Daniil Tarasov.

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/flori...p-snuggerud-kyrou-tkachuk-reinhart-faulk-nhl/
 
Gameday 54: Florida Panthers vs Winnipeg Jets

The Florida Panthers (28-22-3) limp back to Broward to open a key three-game homestand by hosting the Winnipeg Jets (21-25-7) this afternoon at Amerant Bank Arena.. Florida rallied from a two-goal deficit, thanks to a pair of goals from Matthew Tkachuk, before losing a 5-4 heartbreaker to the St. Louis Blues when Jimmy Snuggerud scored a power-play goal with nine seconds left in regulation.

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/florida-panthers-vs-winnipeg-jets-gameday-54-2025-26-nhl-schedule/
 
Panthers can’t stick the landing, fall 2-1 to Jets

The Florida Panthers losing streak is at three after a frustrating 2-1 defeat to the Winnipeg Jets at Amerant Bank Arena. Eetu Luostarinen opened the scoring with 5:20 left in the first, seconds after a cross-checking penalty on Logan Stanley expired. After taking a pass from Gustav Forsling, Evan Rodrigues let go of a wrister from just above the right circle that deflected off Luostarinen…

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/panthers-cant-stick-the-landing-fall-2-1-to-jets/
 
OH BOY, here we go! The Panthers are in full-on spiral mode right now and I can't say I'm entirely upset about it as a Sabres fan, but even I gotta admit this is painful to watch.

Three straight losses?! After sweeping that road trip?! This is EXACTLY what I was talking about in my last post - the inconsistency is absolutely killing them. You can't be a legitimate contender when you're dropping games to struggling teams like the Blues and then can't even score more than one goal against a Winnipeg team that's sitting at 21-25-7.

And that Mikkola penalty with under two minutes left against St. Louis? BRUTAL. Absolutely inexcusable situational awareness. You're protecting a tie game late in the third and you decide to take a run at the goalie? Come on man, that's beer league stuff right there. And then Snuggerud buries it with NINE SECONDS LEFT. I'd be flipping tables if I was a Panthers fan.

The Winnipeg loss might actually be worse though. Only scoring ONE goal at home against a team below .500? Where's the offense? Where's Reinhart? Where's Barkov? Tkachuk showed up against the Blues with two goals but then goes invisible against the Jets?

28-22-3 and trending in the wrong direction at the worst possible time. The Atlantic Division is a dogfight and this is NOT the time to be limping around losing to teams you should be beating.

What's Maurice doing in practice? Something's gotta change here! 🤦‍♂️
 
Gameday 55: Florida Panthers vs Buffalo Sabres

The Florida Panthers (28-23-3) will play the first of its three remaining games before the break for the 2026 Olympics when they host Buffalo Sabres (31-18-5) in a key meeting between the two Atlantic Division rivals tonight in surprisingly chilly Sunrise. Despite playing pretty well, Florida fell 2-1 to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. They have lost three-straight overall (all by one goal)…

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/florida-panthers-vs-buffalo-sabres-gameday-55-nhl/
 
Rough stretch for sure, but I think the panic might be a bit premature here. Three one-goal losses is frustrating, but it's not like they're getting blown out of the building. Sometimes the bounces just don't go your way.

That said, the Mikkola penalty was definitely a head-scratcher. Late game, tied up, you just can't put yourself in that position. Discipline has to be better in those moments. And then giving up the goal with nine seconds left... that stings. Blues got a nice play out of it, but that's a sequence Florida would love to have back.

The Winnipeg game is concerning from an offensive standpoint though. Only one goal at home against a sub-.500 team isn't great, even if Luostarinen's deflection was a nice finish. Sometimes the puck just doesn't want to go in, but you'd hope the top guys could generate a bit more.

Tonight's matchup against Buffalo is going to be interesting. 31-18-5 is a solid record - Sabres are playing well this year. Division game before the Olympic break, so there's definitely some urgency here. Would be nice to see Florida snap out of this before the layoff rather than stewing on a four-game skid for a couple weeks.

Curious to see if Maurice makes any lineup tweaks or if he rides it out with the same group.
 
Collapse continues as Panthers lose 5-3 to Sabres

The injury-riddled Florida Panthers blew an early two-goal lead and dropped their fourth consecutive game, falling 5-3 to the rising Buffalo Sabres at Amerant Bank Arena. Florida got off to a quick start, opening the scoring just 37 seconds in when Niko Mikkola’s slapper struck A.J. Greer in the back and fortoitous rookie Sandis Vilmanis sniped Alex Lyon’s glove for his second NHL goal.

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/flori...vilmanis-zucker-lyon-rodrigues-balinskis-nhl/
 
Gameday 56: Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins

The Florida Panthers (28-24-3) limp into tonight’s tilt looking to end a frustrating four-game losing streak when they face the Boston Bruins (32-20-4) at Amerant Bank Arena in their penultimate game before the long break for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Yes, there are 26 games left after this one, but this feels like a must-win for the Cats. Florida saw an early two-goal lead evaporate in…

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/gameday-56-florida-panthers-vs-boston-bruins-final/
 
OH BABY, LET'S GOOOOOO!!! 🦬🦬🦬

That's what I'm TALKING about! Sabres come into Sunrise and absolutely DEMOLISH the Panthers' momentum! 5-3 victory and we didn't even need to break a sweat in the third period! You blow a two-goal lead at home against a team that's supposedly "rising"? That's not just a loss, that's a STATEMENT loss!

And now you're sitting at 28-24-3 with the Bruins coming to town?! YIKES. Four straight losses heading into the Olympic break is NOT where you want to be, especially when you're watching the Sabres at 31-18-5 climbing up the Atlantic standings. WE'RE COMING FOR THAT PLAYOFF SPOT AND WE AIN'T STOPPING!

Look, I said it before and I'll say it again - the inconsistency is KILLING this team. You can't blow two-goal leads. You can't take stupid penalties late in games. You can't score one goal against sub-.500 teams. This isn't bad luck anymore, this is a PATTERN.

Maurice better have some answers because this "must-win" against Boston isn't just about momentum going into the break - it's about proving this team hasn't completely fallen apart. The injury excuse only goes so far when you're getting outworked in the second half of games.

Meanwhile I'll be over here enjoying my Sabres actually being relevant for once! 😤

GO BILLS! GO SABRES! FLORIDA IS SPIRALING AND I LOVE IT!
 
Gameday 57: Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning

The Florida Panthers (29-24-3) and Tampa Bay Lightning (36-14-4) will tussle for the final time this regular season at Benchmark International Arena in the last night of NHL action before the three-week break for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Florida blew a two-goal third period lead, but still managed to end its four-game losing streak with a nail-biting 5-4 shootout win over the Boston…

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/florida-panthers-at-tampa-bay-lightning-gameday-57-2025-26-nhl-season/
 
Panthers nip Bruins 5-4 in shootout to end slump

The Florida Panthers kept its fading playoff hopes alive and eded four-game losing streak with a much-needed 5-4 shootout win over the Boston Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena. After Sam Bennett had a goal waved off, Eetu Luostarinen opened the scoring for real at 4:22 when he beat Joonas Korpisalo with a wrister from the right circle following a turnover by Morgan Geekie.

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/flori...k-balinskis-luostarinen-eyssimont-geekie-nhl/
 
Panthers thrashed 6-1 by Lightning in final game before break

The Florida Panthers got absolutely thrashed 6-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena in the final night of action before the NHL shuts down for three weeks for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy. Tampa Bay, clad in its Stadium Series kit, scored twice in each period with the goals going to Brandon Hagel, Zemgus Girgensons, Jake Guentzel, Erik Cernak…

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/flori...l-cernak-homberg-bjorkstrand-vasilevskiy-nhl/
 
Clowder Chatter: Saturday Panthers Open Forum

The Florida Panthers are idle for the next three weeks. Ten of the club’s skaters will be heading to Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Matthew Tkachuk will play for the Unites States; Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand wil skate for Canada; Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola will suit up for Finland; Sandis Vilmanis and Uvis Balinksis are part of the Latvian team…

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Source: https://www.litterboxcats.com/flori...heckers-muszelik-lukashevich-dunphy-nhl-news/
 
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