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Blackhawks Remain Winless On Road, Lose 5-3 To Panthers
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- Blackhawks Remain Winless On Road, Lose 5-3 To Panthers
Blackhawks Remain Winless On Road, Lose 5-3 To Panthers
The Chicago Blackhawks (4-11-1) are still winless on the road in the 2026-27 regular season, falling to 0-6-1 as visitors with a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers (9-5-2) at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday. The Blackhawks have now lost four straight games and seven of their last eight since Oct. 17.
Rookie Sandis Vilmanis carried the Panthers to victory, recording his first career four-point NHL game with two goals and two assists. Sam Reinhart (1G, 2A) and Carter Verhaeghe (1G, 1A) both had multi-point efforts and extended their respective point streaks to five games.
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Former Blackhawk Seth Jones scored his third goal of the season, while Brady and Matthew Tkachuk each tallied an assist. Jacob Markstrom stopped 17 of 20 shots to earn the win in net.
Frank Nazar tallied two of Chicago's three goals on Wednesday, and rookie Roman Kantserov scored the other for his team-leading seventh of the season. Kantserov extended his point streak to six games, while captain Connor Bedard extended his to seven games with two assists. Spencer Knight allowed four goals on 29 shots to record the loss.
The Blackhawks gave a respectable effort in the game's final half, but falling behind 3-0 to a veteran-heavy, experienced Panthers bunch is a recipe for disaster. Chicago surrendered two goals in the opening 12:30 as part of a woeful first period in which they registered only five shots on goal.
Poor neutral-zone play, timid decisions, and faulty defensive-zone coverage continued to haunt the Blackhawks before eventually settling in during the second period. Unfortunately, it was already too late, as the Panthers never let Chicago tie the score and make up for their early miscues.
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Here are highlights from the Blackhawks 5-3 loss to the Panthers, dropping their 2026-27 regular-season record to 4-11-1 in 16 games.
First Period
Vilmanis opened the scoring at 4:43, with the Panthers carving through the Blackhawks' defense in transition. Teuvo Teravainen committed a neutral-zone turnover, then Frank Nazar lost Vilmanis in coverage on the entry. 1-0, Florida.
Sandis THE-MAN-is 🤯 pic.twitter.com/7weqJslhTk
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) November 5, 2026
With Bedard in the penalty box for tripping, Verhaeghe doubled Florida's lead on the power play at 12:29, with the Tkachuk brothers assisting on the goal. 2-0, Panthers.
SupercaliSWAGilisticexpialidocious 🤩 pic.twitter.com/uaTDb4brlt
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) November 5, 2026
Florida took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and held the Blackhawks to five shots on goal in 20 minutes. The Panthers also led 10-5 in scoring chances.
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Second Period
Because, of course, Jones got revenge on his former team with his third goal of the season at 13:20 in the second period, extending Florida's lead to 3-0. This was one Knight certainly would want back.
LUCKY NO. 3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/rNy9dcKxiC
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) November 5, 2026
The Blackhawks finally got on the board at 16:48, with Kantserov scoring his team-leading seventh goal of the season. 3-1. Bedard extended his point streak to seven games with the secondary assist. Kantserov extended his point streak to six games with the goal.
NHL rookie goal leader Roman Kantserov 🙂↕️ pic.twitter.com/iv4mMeIUF5
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 5, 2026
The Panthers remained ahead 3-1 after 40 minutes, leading 19-14 in shots on goal and 23-10 in scoring chances.
Third Period
With Alex Vlasic in the penalty box for tripping, Nazar scored a shorthanded goal at 9:31 in the third period, trimming the Blackhawks' deficit to 3-2. Cole Smith hit Nazar with a pass from the defensive zone, and the 22-year-old beat Markstrom on the backhand for his fourth goal of the season.
BANG 💥 pic.twitter.com/FsZgpLNJZy
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 5, 2026
But just 1:30 later, Vilmanis struck for his second goal, restoring Florida's two-goal advantage at 11:01. 4-2, Panthers. Ian Cole committed a brutal defensive-zone turnover, and the Panthers quickly made him pay.
SANDIS GETS HIS SECOND ✌️ pic.twitter.com/0sSqZH8x9H
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) November 5, 2026
The Blackhawks didn't go down without a fight, however, as Nazar scored his second goal of the period at 16:06, cutting the deficit to one once again. 4-3. Bedard recorded his second assist of the game.
#GETFRANKED pic.twitter.com/OSQWdMTpUg
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 5, 2026
With Knight on the bench for the extra attacker, Reinhart iced the game with the empty-netter at 18:33, putting the Panthers ahead for good. 5-3.
Panthers goal: Sam Reinhart hits the empty net to seal it. pic.twitter.com/WaUUqH6vbN
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 5, 2026
The final horn sounded at Amerant Arena, signaling the Blackhawks' seventh straight road loss to begin the season. They'll return to action next on Thursday, as the road trip rolls into Tampa Bay for a matchup with the Lightning.
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