The Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres played an odd Monday afternoon game, and a lot of weird things followed suit on the ice.
For Buffalo, Rasmus Dahlin left with an injury, and goalie Colten Ellis was pulled in the second period.
Before either of those things happened, though, the Panthers had already pulled their goalie, Jacob Markstrom.
Akira Schmid came on in relief, and it didn’t work out. The Panthers went on to lose 5-3.
By the end of the game, though, the big concern had to be about Markstrom.
Why Did Panthers Pull Jacob Markstrom?
There wasn’t an immediate answer for why the Panthers pulled Markstrom, but the assumption was injury.
He finished the first period, saving nine of the 11 shots he faced, but then Schmid was in goal to start the second period.
At that time, Markstrom wasn’t even on the bench.
Usually, a goalie who is simply given the hook remains on the bench in case he has to go back in. Given that Markstrom wasn’t there, the conclusion is an injury.
Akira Schmid is in the net for Florida to start the second.
Markstrom started the first, gave up two goals – Florida’s on a back-to-back… hard to think this is performance based.
— Alex Baumgartner (@ABaumgartner91) October 12, 2026
The usual social media sleuths who try to get to the bottom of potential injuries don’t seem to have solved this one yet.
But as the post above notes, Florida plays again on Tuesday, heading to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets. They likely would’ve wanted one goalie to play the first game and the other to play the second game.
Now that’s all been thrown out of whack with Markstrom leaving Monday’s game. There’ll likely be some kind of further updates, but it’s far from ideal regardless.
Sergei Bobrovsky Irony
The irony of course is that the Panthers relied heavily on Sergei Bobrovsky in recent seasons, including to the tune of two Stanley Cup championships.
But after the end of last season, the Panthers let Bobrovsky leave in free agency. He signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Florida needed to replace him in goal.
Markstrom is a veteran presence but not necessarily a standout performer at this point, but the Panthers are making do with what they have.
An injury absence for Markstrom would be extra painful given the Panthers are already without Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand for extended stretches due to injury. It hasn’t been an easy start to the year for Florida.
Why Panthers Pulled Jacob Markstrom From Goalie for Akira Schmid