Florida Panthers keep surviving injuries and it is getting real

The Florida Panthers are the ultimate survive and advance team right now, and it is not because they forgot how to play like champions.

They are still the back to back Cup winners, but this season has turned into a nightly math problem for Paul Maurice.

After Thursday's win in Winnipeg, Florida sat at 26-20-3, still in the mix, but living way closer to the bubble than anyone expected in October.

The biggest hole is still down the middle, because Aleksander Barkov is expected to miss at least the entire regular season after knee surgery.

That kind of absence forces everyone else to play heavier minutes, and it changes the whole defensive spine of the team.

Then came Seth Jones blow on the blue line, injured in the Winter Classic on January 2, after a deflected shot caught him up high.

Jones had 24 points in 40 games, and Florida was leaning on him for real top four impact before it happened.

He has since been placed on LTIR, and his injury also forced him off Team USA's 2026 Olympic roster, which tells you how serious it is.

Brad Marchand has also missed time and Dmitry Kulikov is out long term after labrum surgery, so the depth chart has been in constant motion.

That is why Matthew Tkachuk coming back matters so much, because one elite competitor can change how opponents match and how teammates breathe.

You can feel the fanbase in South Florida going from confident to stubborn, because nobody wants excuses, they just want two points.

The quiet boost is Daniil Tarasov, 26 years old, drafted in 2017 round 3 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, suddenly looking like a real stabilizer behind Sergei Bobrovsky.

In Winnipeg he made the one save that mattered, a back door robbery on Mark Scheifele in the third, then stayed calm in the shootout and allowed nothing.

Florida's path is not pretty right now, it is layered defending, hard routes, and enough veteran detail to keep games tight until skill can decide them.

The schedule is not easing up either, and the Olympic break is right around the corner, so the Panthers will need Tarasov starts that feel boring and safe.

If they keep scratching out wins like Thursday, the season stops being about style points and becomes a test of how tough a champion can really be.