{"id":513957,"date":"2026-03-20T22:37:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T22:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/513957\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T22:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T22:37:26","slug":"panthers-week-that-was-game-results-playoff-picture-injury-report-the-hockey-writers-florida-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/513957\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers Week That Was – Game Results, Playoff Picture, Injury Report – The Hockey Writers – Florida Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The past week (March 13\u201320, 2026) has been a bittersweet stretch for the Florida Panthers. While they secured a dominant shutout victory over their recent Stanley Cup rival, the Edmonton Oilers, the reality of a grueling three-year championship run has finally caught up to them. Ravaged by injuries to their core leadership, the back-to-back defending champions are now facing the statistical likelihood<\/a> of missing the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n

Game Results: March 13 \u2013 March 20, 2026<\/p>\n

DateOpponentResultScoreNotable PerformanceMarch 15@ Seattle KrakenLoss6-2Team struggled with travel fatigue.March 17@ Vancouver CanucksLoss5-2Bennett scored his 25th of the season.March 19@ Edmonton OilersWin4-0Bobrovsky (21-save shutout); Benning (2 assists).<\/p>\n

Standings & Playoff Outlook<\/p>\n

The Panthers currently sit in 7th place in the Atlantic Division and are significantly out of a wild card spot.<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Sabres (92 pts) and Tampa Bay Lightning (88 pts) have pulled away at the top. Florida (71 pts)<\/a> trails the 3rd-place Montreal Canadiens by 13 points with only 14 games remaining.<\/p>\n

Related \u2013 Can Panthers\u2019 Brad Marchand Continue to Play at His Standard Next Season?<\/a><\/p>\n

For the first time in three years, the Panthers are not considered contenders. Most models suggest they will be the first defending champion to miss the playoffs since the 2014-15 Kings.<\/p>\n

Injury Report & IR List<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s roster<\/a> has been stretched thin, with the bulk of the defensive corps only just returning to full health this week.<\/p>\n

PlayerPositionInjuryStatus \/ Expected ReturnAleksander BarkovCKneeInjured Reserve. Out for the remainder of the season.Brad MarchandLWLower BodyInjured Reserve. Expected out until at least March 31.Sam ReinhartCUndisclosedOut. Expected out until at least March 24.Cole SchwindtRWLower BodyInjured Reserve. Expected out until at least March 24.Jonah GadjovichLWUpper BodyInjured Reserve. Expected out until at least March 20.Uvis BalinskisDUndisclosedOut. Expected out until at least March 20.<\/p>\n

In Case You Missed it\u2026<\/p>\n

The \u201cCup Final\u201d Rematch: On March 19, Florida defeated the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> 4-0. Sergei Bobrovsky earned his 53rd career shutout, and rookie defenseman Mike Benning (playing in just his 4th NHL game) stole the show with two primary assists in his hometown.<\/p>\n

A \u201cRealistic\u201d Outlook: Following the trade deadline, the organization has pivoted toward a \u201crest and recover\u201d strategy<\/a>. While the team remains competitive, the focus is increasingly on getting healthy for a return to dominance in the 2026\u201327 season rather than making a desperate push for a wild card spot.<\/p>\n

AI tools were used to support the creation or distribution of this content, however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of The Hockey Writers editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The past week (March 13\u201320, 2026) has been a bittersweet stretch for the Florida Panthers. While they secured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5102],"tags":[62,57,5141,5,14650,4,63,11],"class_list":{"0":"post-513957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida-panthers","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-panthers","10":"tag-floridapanthers","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-mike-benning","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-panthers","15":"tag-sergei-bobrovsky"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116263902270119958","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}