Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) looks down the ice during the first period of a game against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.
Alie Skowronski
askowronski@miamiherald.com
The Florida Panthers are playing with tunnel vision. They’re moving forward with short-term memory.
At this point, that’s really all they can do.
Every game from now on is practically a one-game playoff. No room for error. No margins to play with.
That’s the situation the Panthers find themselves in after splitting their first two games back following the Olympic break — a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday and a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday at Amerant Bank Arena.
“We need more than .500,” star Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk said.
Yes. Yes they do.
The Panthers (30-26-3, 63 points) enter their upcoming four-game road trip that starts Sunday against the New York Islanders (6:30 p.m., ESPN) exactly where they were two days ago except with two fewer games to make up ground. They’re eight points back of the Boston Bruins (33-20-5, 71 points) for the Eastern Conference’s final wild card spot with 23 games left to play. It’s a precarious position to be in. Florida’s odds to make the playoffs, according to Money Puck, are down to 10%.
“We just need to believe,” defenseman Niko Mikkola said.
And win.
And hope the teams ahead of them slip up.
It’s a tall task.
But one the Panthers aren’t shying away from.
Starting with this trip that goes through the Islanders on Sunday, New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, Columbus on Thursday and Detroit Red Wings on Friday. The Islanders and Red Wings entered Saturday in third place of the Metropolitan and Atlantic Divisions, respectively. The Blue Jackets are two points ahead of Florida in the wild card race with two games in hand.
“If you’re on a longer road trip, the first game is so important,” Tkachuk said, “because if you don’t get it, it makes that road trip go by really long or really slow. You don’t want to catch up on the road. … We need close to all of [the points], if not all of them. So we better get that first one.”
Injury news
Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis left Friday’s game against the Sabres early in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice did not have an immediate update postgame Friday and the team did not hold a media availability Saturday prior to flying to New York so more clarity will come following the team’s morning skate Sunday.
That was the second injury loss of the day after Maurice announced pregame that forward Cole Schwindt will be out long-term with a lower-body injury.
A positive on the injury front: Maurice said forward Tomas Nosek and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov tentatively should return to the lineup at some point on this road trip.
This story was originally published February 28, 2026 at 9:28 AM.
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Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.