Outside of losing an important divisional matchup to the Buffalo Sabres, the Florida Panthers also suffered a loss to their roster. During the contest, the Panthers announced that Sam Bennett had left the game with an upper-body injury.
At this point, there’s no clear answer for how Bennett sustained the injury. Regardless, he joins a growing list of injured players in Florida as their quest for a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final continues to slip away. Bennett finished the game with a -1 rating in 5:11 of action.
If Bennett is unable to play in tomorrow’s game against the Boston Bruins, the Panthers will assuredly need to make a recall to their forward core. The Panthers were already without forwards Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand, and Tomas Nosek. Additionally, forwards Aleksander Barkov, Jonah Gadjovich, and defensemen Seth Jones and Dmitry Kulikov are all on the team’s injured reserve.
Additional injury updates:
- Despite returning defenseman Devon Toews in last night’s loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Colorado Avalanche remain waiting for a pair of top-six forwards to return. According to Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports, the Avalanche hope that Martin Nečas will return tomorrow. Additionally, although he’s expected to play tomorrow, captain Gabriel Landeskog is nearing a return and is poised to play with Team Sweden for the upcoming Olympics. The 33-year-old winger has not played since January 4th due to an upper-body injury.
- Before taking the ice against the Calgary Flames yesterday, The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs won’t return defenseman Morgan Rielly to the lineup before the Olympic break. Rielly left Toronto’s recent win over the Vancouver Canucks due to an upper-body injury. Given that he’s not playing for Team Canada at the upcoming Winter Olympics, Rielly will likely return after the international event, but the Maple Leafs couldn’t specify a recovery timeline.
- The Minnesota Wild were without a middle-six forward last night against the Montreal Canadiens. Before the drop of the puck, the Wild announced that Marcus Foligno would miss the game because of illness. The 34-year-old forward had been playing better of late, scoring three goals and eight points in his last 15 games, including the first hat trick of his career a few weeks ago. He’s not expected to miss the Wild’s final contest before the Olympic break.
Landeskog with his injury history should skip the Olympics to fully recovery & to help a struggling Avalanche team.
Easy to say “don’t play in the olympics” but the reality is that every player likely has the mentality that Ovechkin had: “I’ll play for my country and suffer the consequences”.
It’s also comical to refer to the best team in the league as “struggling”.
Godbless
@motor – @RichP is right, they are struggling. They are coming back to the pack faster than they should, based on the stretch of dominant play earlier in the season. They had a legit shot at 136, but have blown that chance now. Their PP is tied for worst in the league, today. The fact that the PK is second-best behind the ‘Hawks is a saving grace. Posting the most goals scored and fewest allowed helps, naturally, as well. The OT losses aren’t the worst in the NHL, but it’s up there with teams both good and bad.
“Despite returning defenseman Devon Toews in last night’s loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Colorado Avalanche could return at least one top-six forward fairly soon.”
What?
The Panthers missing the playoffs was not on my bingo card.
It took a combination of having every single one of their best players to be hurt for extended periods and for the east to be collectively all really good. If they were in the West they could likely squeak into a WC spot
The Panthers have played 55 games. Sam Reinhart has played 55. Carter Verhaeghe has played 54. Sam Bennett has played 55. Anton Lundell has played 52. Evan Rodrigues has played 55. Aaron Ekblad has played 54. Your thesis does not hold up.
Actually, missing best player in Barkov all year, best defenseman out, Tkachuk out, Kulikov, Nosek, Gadjovich, now Marchand, Lundell, and Bennett. They were playing guys who passed through waivers, guy on league minimum running the powerplay. No team could survive this. Bob has been underwhelming as well.
Doghockey, they lead the league in most games missed due to injury. Just look up who all is injured and get back to me lil bro. My “thesis” does absolutely hold up when Barkov, Tkachuk, Kulikov, Gadjovich, Nosek, Marchy, Lundell, Seth Jones, Cole Schwindt broke his arm. Listing the couple of guys that have stayed healthy doesnt mean they havent had these injuries.
Please cite the part in my post where I stated that they have not had injuries – I don’t think you will find it. They’ve had plenty of injuries and their place in the standings shows it. That said, you posted “having every single one of their best players hurt for an extended period”. Not my words. Yours. The data I posted shows that not every single one of their best players has been hurt for an extended period.
Muting Doghockey is always the best option. 😉
Doghockey, you really come on here to argue semantics to find a technicality in my statement? Really? Loser behavior bro
Not a terrible idea Gbear lol
Technicality? You post included the statement “having every single one of their best players hurt for an extended period”. At the time of this statement, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell, Evan Rodrigues, and Aaron Ekblad had missed a total of 5 games this season. Unless you don’t believe that these guys are some of the best players on the Panthers roster, your statement is provably false, and I did not have to use semantics or a technicality. Take the L and move on. Or do what Gbear and some of the other weaker posters do: hide behind the mute button.
Yes thank you for pointing out exactly what the technicality with semantics was because you refuse to factor in figurative language (in this case, hyperbole) and instead take everything literal just so you can pat yourself on the back for it. Theres no Ws or Ls here to take, this conversation is not a competition. Get a grip