Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) looks to pass the puck as Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) defends in an overtime period of their NHL game at the Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Sunrise, Fla.
Photo by Matias J. Ocner
mocner@miamiherald.com
The Florida Panthers will be without both of their top point producers of the season on Tuesday when they host the Detroit Red Wings at Amerant Bank Arena (7 p.m., Scripps Sports).
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after morning skate that winger Sam Reinhart will not play against the Red Wings as they try to get ahead of some soft-tissue issues. This comes one day after Maurice said Brad Marchand will be out long-term and might potentially have surgery to repair a lingering lower-body injury.
Reinhart and Marchand are the Panthers’ leaders in goals and points scored — Reinhart has 28 goals and 59 points, Marchand is right behind him with 27 goals and 54 points.
That’s 55 of Florida’s 187 goals scored this season — 29.4% — out of the lineup just between those two.
For Reinhart, it’s just his fourth regular-season game missed during the past four seasons and sixth total game missed out of 378 in that span that saw Florida reach the Stanley Cup Final three consecutive seasons and win it all each of the past two.
“He’s an exceptionally fit man,” Maurice said. “It’s why he’s endured the amount of hockey that he’s played. He also has a fantastic ability to adapt his game when he’s playing with some injuries, when he’s playing maybe under gassed because we’ve just run him so hard over these years. That’s all his IQ. It’s hockey IQ, for sure. But there comes a point in time when your game is just suffering because of what you’ve dealt with over time.”
Maurice said the plan is for Reinhart to return to the lineup Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets — giving him about a week in between games after last playing on Friday when the Panthers were in Detroit.
“This would be an unusual recovery for him,” Maurice said. “I’m not sure he’s had this block of time off and during the season in three-and-a-half-years, so we think of the five-day bump for him will be like a long Christmas break, and he can come back and stay healthy.”
With Reinhart and Marchand out, forwards Vinnie Hinostroza and Luke Kunin will draw into the lineup on Tuesday against the Red Wings.
Florida’s forward lines, based on practice Monday, should like as follows to start the game…
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Evan Rodrigues
Carter Verhaeghe-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
A.J. Greer-Tomas Nosek-Mackie Samoskevich
Jesper Boqvist-Luke Kunin-Vinnie Hinostroza
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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.