The Chicago Blackhawks’ road problems kept rolling Wednesday night, and the Florida Panthers made sure of it with a 5-3 win at Amerant Bank Arena.
Chicago is still looking for its first road victory of the 2026-27 regular season, slipping to 0-6-1 away from home and 4-11-1 overall. The loss also pushed the Blackhawks to four straight defeats and seven losses in their last eight games since Oct. 17.
Florida got the kind of night it needed from rookie Sandis Vilmanis, who posted his first four-point NHL game with two goals and two assists. Sam Reinhart added a goal and two helpers, Carter Verhaeghe chipped in a goal and an assist, and both players stretched their point streaks to five games.
Seth Jones, now with the Panthers, scored his third goal of the season against his former team, while Brady and Matthew Tkachuk each picked up an assist. Jacob Markstrom finished with 17 saves on 20 shots.
Chicago had a few bright spots, but the early hole was too deep. Frank Nazar scored twice, Roman Kantserov netted the other goal for the Blackhawks, and captain Connor Bedard extended his point streak to seven games with two assists. Spencer Knight allowed four goals on 29 shots in the loss.
The game got away from Chicago in the first period, when Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead and controlled the pace almost immediately. The Blackhawks managed just five shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes, and the Panthers also held a 10-5 edge in scoring chances.
Vilmanis opened the scoring at 4:43 after Florida worked through Chicago in transition. Teuvo Teravainen turned the puck over in the neutral zone, and Nazar lost Vilmanis on the entry, leaving the rookie with room to finish. Later, with Bedard in the penalty box for tripping, Verhaeghe buried a power-play goal at 12:29, with both Tkachuk brothers assisting.
Florida’s lead grew to 3-0 in the second period when Jones scored at 13:20. Chicago finally answered at 16:48, as Kantserov scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season. Bedard picked up the secondary assist, and Kantserov’s goal also extended his point streak to six games.
The Blackhawks kept pushing in the third period and briefly made things interesting. With Alex Vlasic in the penalty box for tripping, Nazar scored shorthanded at 9:31, finishing a pass from Cole Smith with a backhand to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Florida answered almost immediately. Just 1:30 later, Vilmanis scored again at 11:01 after Ian Cole’s turnover in the defensive zone, restoring the Panthers’ two-goal cushion.
Chicago refused to fold, though. Nazar scored again at 16:06, trimming the margin back to one and giving Bedard his second assist of the night. But with Knight pulled for the extra attacker, Reinhart sealed it with an empty-net goal at 18:33.
The Blackhawks finished the night with another road loss, and their next stop comes Thursday in Tampa Bay against the Lightning.
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