SUNRISE, Fla. — An unfortunate reality is beginning to settle in for the 2025-26 Florida Panthers as they are being bitten by the injury bug.

The latest injury occurred during the Panthers’ 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday at Amerant Bank Arena, their fourth straight defeat.

Forward Sam Bennett, a key piece in the Panthers’ two Stanley Cup championships, left with an upper-body injury and was later ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Bennett joins a growing list of injuries that have plagued the Panthers for much of the season – featuring Aleksander Barkov, Dmitry Kulikov, Tomas Nosek, Seth Jones, Jonah Gadjovich, Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell.

“It seems like somebody is getting injured every night,” a very honest Matthew Tkachuk told the media postgame Monday.

It wasn’t until Jan. 19 that Tkachuk made his season debut, recovering from surgery for a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia.

The Panthers’ four-game losing skid has caused the team to slip down the Eastern Conference standings.

With 27 games to play, the Panthers are nine points out of the second wild card spot, having played one fewer game than the Boston Bruins.

The Buffalo Sabres and Bruins hold the two wild card spots.

The Bruins visit Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET in what is now a must-have two points for Paul Maurice’s crew.

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