Panthers Open Season Red Hot Despite Injuries

The red hot start comes for the Florida Panthers despite injuries to their top two players.

Oct 11, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice looks on during the third period against the Ottawa Senators at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The Florida Panthers dispatched the Ottawa Senators 6-2, pushing the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions to a perfect 3-0 to behind their campaign. The Panthers have outscored their first three opponents by a score of 11-5, downright dominating their competition along the way.

The red hot start for the Panthers comes despite injuries to their top two players, captain Aleksander Barkov and superstar winger Matthew Tkachuk. Still, you would think that this team is both completely healthy and already in postseason form the way they’ve begun the season. It’s a credit to the system this team has built under coach Paul Maurice and an elite goaltender picking up the slack.

Vezina Bob

Leading the way for the Panthers is their veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. He’s started all three games for the Cats, and he’s been superb in each start. He’s allowed a total of five goals and has not allowed more than two goals in any of his first three starts.

It’s pushed him to a 3-0 record with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is having an incredible start to his 16th NHL season, and the Panthers are counting on that consistency while they push through without their offensive leaders.

Oct 7, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) defends the net against the Chicago Blackhawks during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The System Works

As strong a performer as Bobrovsky has been, the team in front of him has done an excellent job in front of him. Head coach Paul Maurice demands accountability on both ends of the ice from his skaters, and that demand has never been stronger than the start of the 2025-2026 campaign.

Lacking the top end star power that can shoulder the scoring burden, the Panthers have still managed to produce. Their six-goal effort against the Senators is a perfect example of this.

Six different scorers recorded goals in the win. Top of their lineup players like Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues netted goals, but so did defenseman Aaron Ekblad, Anton Lundell and second-year forward Mackie Samoskevich. Following the game, Ekblad told reporters that the team operates like a “well-oiled machine,” regardless of who is and is not in the lineup.

“We are a well-oiled machine and feel pretty good about our game to start,’’ he said. “We have a set of rules that we adhere to on a daily basis and we try to bring that to our game every day.“

Those rules and systems are guiding the Panthers to an incredible beginning of their campaign. After two straight years playing the most games in the league and capturing the greatest prize, it would be completely understandable if the Stanley Cup hangover finally caught up to them. Instead, they are defying the injuries and expectations and storming out to a red hot start.

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