Florida Panthers Star Sam Bennett Shut Down for the Rest of the Season

Over the past few weeks, the Florida Panthers have been struggling due to missing the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad and captain Aleksander Barkov, although all are expected back early in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

However, the injuries are certainly becoming a worry for this team, as it has now been revealed that Sam Bennett will also miss the remainder of the regular season, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

In positive news however, Masters confirms that Bennett is expected to be good to go for game one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with their opponent for that series up in the air.

Just a few weeks ago, most fans had locked in a Battle of Ontario and a Battle of Florida to start the post-season, but now, following five straight losses, the Panthers are just two points up on the Ottawa Senators as they could potentially fall into a Wild Card spot.

However, that doesn't make them any less of a threat in the playoffs, as Ekblad will return after two games, Barkov and Bennett should both be back, with the wild card in all of this being Matthew Tkachuk.

Overwhelmingly the expectation is that the superstar forward will be back, and with the team expected to be at 100% health when it matters most, this is simply a team that nobody in the Eastern Conference wants to see as they look to make it three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Finals.