Panthers dominant defensive effort vs. Edmonton shows what could have been

It's been a challenging season on the backline

Mar 19, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman (18) battles with Florida Panthers defensemen Seth Jones (3) in front of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images / Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

Offense wins games, defense wins championships.

Yes, it's an old adage, but no more fitting for the injury-riddled Florida Panthers, who relied on stingy, hard-nosed, fast defense in winning the Stanley Cup the last two years.

For the first time since early October, the Panthers, 4-0 winners at Edmonton on Thursday night, had their core five defenseman -- Aaron Ekblad, Seth Jones, Dmitry Kulikov, Nikko Mikkola, and Gustav Forsling -- together in a game.

And the result was utter domination against one of the hottest offenses and the game's most prolific offensive juggernaut in Connor McDavid.

Here are some defensive numbers from Thursday's shutout of a team in the thick of a playoff hunt: Edmonton (34-27-9) had just 21 shots on goal. Their ferocious top-tanked power play (31.8%) could not muster a single shot in a two-minute Panther kill in the second period. In a second power play, Edmonton registered only one shot on Sergei Bobrovsky, who recorded his fourth shutout of the year and moved into a tie with Curtis Joseph for the seventh most-wins (454) on the all-time list. After Carter Verhaeghe iced the game with the Panthers fourth score with just under 5 minutes to play, the Oilers didn't record a single shot for the rest of the game. Oh, and McDavid? He had one shot on goal -- in the entire game.

"That's the best defensive group that we've put on the ice since two minutes in Game 2 of the season," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "You see what those five guys can do."

Though none of the five defensemen scored or assisted on any of the four goals, they did what they do best, hounding the Oilers and stealing the puck. Jones, in his second game back from a fractured collarbone since Jan. 2, was back to his old dominant form on the power play, setting up the offensive attack. Anton Lundell took advantage with the extra man, scoring his career-tying 18th goal to make it 3-0.

Jones logged 24 minutes and 34 seconds of ice time, easily leading all Panthers skaters. Right behind him was Mikkola (22:31), Forsling (20:33), and Ekblad (18:13). On another high note, newcomer defenseman Mike Benning (14:43) had two assists.

Due to injury, Jones, Ekblad, Mikkola, Forsling, and Kulikov, critical in last year's repeat championship which culminated with another Finals victory over Edmonton, have rarely been on the ice together this season. Kulikov, who missed most of this year, returned just before Jones, and Mikkola and Ekblad also missed time throughout the year. Forsling is one of of very few Panthers to play in every game this year for injury-riddled Florida, which has been without captain Alexsander Barkov (knee) for the entire year, and just lost one of its top scorers, Brad Marchand (lower body injury).

As a result, the Panthers (34-31-3), two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions, are almost eliminated from playoff contention. Nearly all of their championship team players remain signed for 2026-27, so they are primed for another run next year. Thursday night's rout of Edmonton was an example of what they can do when they can return some of their key players - and what could have been.