Panthers injuries continue to mount, lose Jones in Winter Classic defeat

MIAMI -- The Florida Panthers’ start to 2026 went much like the rest of their season has gone with another key player being lost to an injury.

Defenseman Seth Jones sustained an upper-body injury during the Panthers’ 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot park on Friday, putting a damper on what was supposed to be a night for celebrating the first outdoor game played in Florida.

It was part of the course for Florida, though, during a season filled with injuries that have hampered its quest to win the Stanley Cup for the third straight season.

“That’s the theme of our year clearly,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Every year has something. … This year is about we have to overcome these injuries. Figure out a way to win without your best players. But if you can do that, there’s a pretty good prize at the end.”

The Panthers knew they were facing uphill climb to three-peat when they began the season without arguably their two most important forwards in Aleksander Barkov (knee) and Matthew Tkachuk (adductor muscle, sports hernia). But the list grew to include forwards Tomas Nosek (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body) and Cole Schwindt (broken arm) and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (upper body).

Helped by a 9-3-1 surge prior to the Winter Classic, the Panthers (21-16-3) have managed to stay within striking distance of a Stanley Cup Playoff berth. They’re one point behind the Buffalo Sabres for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

But Jones’ injury, which he sustained when he was struck near the left collarbone by a deflected shot 7:54 into the first period, provided another reminder of the battle of attrition Florida has faced all season. The initial prognosis was promising with Maurice saying, “He’s just got to be looked at tomorrow.”

Still, it was a downer coming on the day when Jones was named to the United States roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

“It’s never a good thing when guys go down,” Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen said. “He’s a big part of our team. We needed him on the power play and, obviously, he plays a lot of minutes, so a big loss there. But, hopefully, he’s OK.”

The good news is there is some help on the way. Tkachuk, who had surgery on Aug. 22, could be back soon. He started practicing in a non-contact jersey on Sunday and could return later this month. Schwindt practiced in a non-contact jersey for the first time on Thursday and could be back soon, too.

Barkov is much further away. Although the Panthers captain has resumed skating lightly after having surgery to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee on Sept. 26, the team estimated he would miss 7-9 months following his surgery. That would put his projected return at late April at the earliest.

The Panthers play their final regular-season game on April 15, so they will likely have to qualify for the playoffs without Barkov. They’ve known that from the start of the season, though.

“You’ve got to go through it,” said forward Sam Reinhart, who scored Florida’s lone goal Friday. “Everyone goes through it. We’re no different. You’ve got to have guys that are able to step in and fill roles and produce. That’s what we’re going to need.

“It’s going to be a tough January. Everyone’s going through it. It’s a lot of games at this time of year for a lot of teams … So, this is going to be a big month for us.”

Florida has 14 more games in January, beginning against the Colorado Avalanche, who lead the NHL with 67 points and have just two regulation losses (30-2-7), at home at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, ALT, SN). The hope is Jones won’t be out long, but Maurice noted that the Panthers will be at about 225 man-games missed because of injury when they hit their regular-season midway point with their 41st game on Sunday.

“Yeah, we’re going to get some guys back, but we’re probably going to lose some guys,” Maurice said. “The further you get in, the threshold, I think, in the League is five guys (injured). If you have four or five guys out, you can look fairly close. … We’ve been sitting at six all year.”

The Panthers understand this is part of the challenge of trying to win the Cup in three consecutive seasons. There are reasons why no team has done it since the New York Islanders won the Cup in four straight seasons from 1980-1983.

The Panthers have overcome a lot already to get to this point. They played 68 playoff games in reaching the Stanley Cup Final the past three seasons, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 before defeating the Edmonton Oilers the past two seasons

Getting back to the Cup Final again with the injuries they have will be their most difficult test.

“That’s what our story is this year. Can we overcome it?” Maurice said. “We aren’t going to look the same and people will probably attribute different things (such as), ‘Well, they’ve played a lot of hockey.’ We had played a lot of hockey two years ago. So, that’s not changing. Can we overcome our injuries? That’s our challenge this year.

“If we can do it, if we can handle our adversity, we’ve done our job.”