The Florida Panthers are heading into a stretch that will tell them plenty about themselves, and they’ll start it on Wednesday night in Ottawa after a couple of extra days to savor an 8-2 rout of the Seattle Kraken and a three-game winning streak.
That win also set up a four-game road trip that keeps the Panthers away from Sunrise for a while. After the matchup with the Senators, Florida will visit the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets before coming home to finish the season-series against Winnipeg. The Cats are 3-1-2 on the road so far.
Elsewhere around the organization, The Athletic’s Jame Mirtle did not identify a Florida player as an obvious under-the-radar trade candidate for the 2026-27 season. His reasoning was straightforward enough:
“The vast majority of Florida’s core is locked in and has a no-movement clause, making big swings using veteran talents difficult. The Panthers feel more likely to deal a prospect to push all in, especially with some of the injuries they’ve had up front early on.”
Charlotte kept rolling over the weekend, too. The Checkers swept Hartford at Bojangles Coliseum to move to 4-2-0 on the young season.
Friday’s game was a tight one until the final minutes, when Hunter St. Martin scored shorthanded with 3:46 left in regulation to send Charlotte to a 2-1 win.
John Beecher assisted on St. Martin’s first goal of the campaign.
Donovan Sebrango opened the scoring 1:38 into the second period, with Gracyn Sawchyn and Nathan Bastian picking up the assists. Kirill Gerasimyuk turned aside 27 of 28 shots for his second victory.
The rematch on Saturday had more offense and ended with Charlotte taking a 4-2 victory. Cooper Black stopped 33 shots, Angus Crookshank earned First Star honors with a goal and an assist, and Brett Chroske, Tobias Björnfot and Jack Devine also scored. Bastian finished with two assists, while Sawchyn, Robert Mastrosimone and Cole Schwindt each had one.
In the QMJHL, Louis-Antoine Denault made 20 saves on 22 shots in Newfoundland Regiment’s 4-2 win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Denault is now 4-2-1 with a 2.98 GAA, .902 save percentage and one shutout.
Shamar Moses had five shots on goal, lost his only faceoff and took a roughing minor that led to a goal in North Bay Battalion’s 5-4 loss at home to the Niagara IceDogs in OHL action. Moses now has four goals and four assists in 11 games.
In the KHL, Stepan Gorbunov scored in the shootout in Traktor Chelabinysk’s 2-1 loss to Avangard Omsk. Gorbunov has one goal in 15 games this season.
In Other News...
Panthers Give Former Final Cut Another Shot When They Need Him Most
Cole Reinhardt is back in the Panthers mix at a time when roster flexibility matters almost as much as production. Florida brought him up on an emergency basis and then made the move official, a sign the team needed another forward option as it juggles salary cap constraints and player availability.
Reinhardt should get his first look of the season in an upcoming game in Ottawa, the city where he spent the first five years of his pro career. For a player who was on the outside looking in not long ago, it is another chance to show he can help when the Panthers need bodies and depth most. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Roster Shuffle Just Put Cole Schwindt In The Spotlight
A roster move on the Panthers side of the ledger has put Cole Schwindt back in the NHL picture, with Florida recalling the forward from the AHLs Charlotte Checkers. Schwindt has seen limited action with Charlotte this season, appearing in five games and producing one goal and three points, but the move gives the organization another depth option as it manages its lineup through the early part of the year.
The corresponding move sends Sam Lafferty back to Charlotte after his earlier promotion to fill in during an injury-related absence on the Panthers roster. Florida is using the assignment to manage his waiver situation, keeping an eye on the timing as it decides how to handle a player who had quickly become part of the clubs short-term roster mix. [Read more 🡒]
Carter Verhaeghe Is Heating Up At The Perfect Time For Florida
Carter Verhaeghe keeps finding the net at the right time for Florida, and his latest burst was another reminder of how dangerous he can be when the Panthers are rolling. He is tied for the team lead in goals this season, and his scoring pace has picked up compared with previous years, giving Florida a reliable finishing touch as the stretch run begins to matter more.
What made this outburst even more notable is that he shared the spotlight with Sam Bennett in a way the Panthers had never seen before. It was the first time in franchise history that two Florida players each scored a natural hat trick in the same game, a rare kind of offensive eruption that says plenty about how well the top end of the lineup is clicking right now. [Read more 🡒]