Things just got worse on Monday for the Florida Panthers.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions absorbed a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., for their fourth straight loss. Perhaps what’s more concerning for Florida is the status of star center Sam Bennett, who suffered an upper-body injury in the Sabres game.
The 29-year-old Bennett saw action for just a little over five minutes in the first period before exiting the contest and ultimately getting ruled out for the rest of the evening.
Bennett is the latest Panther to get banged up, and the injuries are clearly taking a toll on Florida.
“I feel for the guys who have been going at it for like 55 games and have been put in so many situations,’’ Florida star Matthew Tkachuk told reporters after the meeting with Buffalo, via George Richards of Florida Hockey Now.
With the losses piling up and the roster getting thinned by injuries, Tkachuk appeared to sound the alarm on the Panthers’ outlook.
“It’s wild. Some of the guys in right now, I’m seeing them work their absolute ass off, grind, and play through stuff. It’s been wild. But, we are in trouble right now,” added Tkachuk, who missed a big chunk of the season before returning to action on Jan. 19.
Apart from Bennett, Aleksander Barkov, Jonah Gadjovich, Seth Jones, Dmitry Kulikov, Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand and Tomas Nosek are all sidelined as well.
Florida has two more games left to play before the Olympic break, including Wednesday’s encounter with the Boston Bruins at home, with Bennett’s status for either of those contests currently up in the air.
