Defending Champion Panthers Keep Winning Even Without Tkachuk, Ekblad And Before Marchand Debuts

Matthew Tkachuk has not been on the ice for the Florida Panthers since early February, Aaron Ekblad is not eligible to play again until Game 3 of the first round of the postseason , and Brad Marchand still hasn't debuted with his new team since joining at the trade deadline.

Those are big holes down the stretch, and yet they keep on rolling. The Panthers won nine of their first 14 games since the NHL season resumed after the 4 Nations Face-Off break and remain atop the Atlantic Division with 11 left to play.

Seth Jones has fit in perfectly since they acquired him from Chicago, and the defending Stanley Cup champions look primed for another playoff run.

"That's the way it goes," said Sam Bennett, whose 12 points over this span are tied with captain Aleksander Barkov for second-most on the roster behind Sam Reinhart 13. "You're going to be down important guys at important times of the year. In the playoffs, especially, there's going to be times that you lose guys and it's up to us to step up and every guy's got to play a little harder, play a little bigger when we have those really important guys out of our lineup."

Tkachuk, Florida's heart-and-soul top forward, was injured playing for the U.S. at the 4 Nations on Feb. 15. Ekblad, the top-four defenseman in his 11th season in the league, was suspended 20 games on March 10 for performance-enhancing drugs.