Offense struggles again as Blue Jackets lose 4-1 to Panthers

Tuesday, November 10, 2026
By Ed Francis
efrancis@cbussports.com

CBJ head coach Rick Bowness on bench

Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness watches the action on the ice at a recent game at Nationwide Arena. File photo

CBJ game scorebug

The Columbus Blue Jackets suffered their second straight loss Tuesday night, falling 4-1 to the Florida Panthers at Nationwide Arena to fall to 7-9-0 on the season.

Ivan Provorov scored the lone goal for Columbus, while Cam Talbot made 24 saves. Jacob Markstrom stopped 37 shots for Florida, which snapped a brief two-game losing streak.

After a scoreless opening period, Sam Bennett opened the scoring on the power play at 2:00 of the second period to give Florida a 1-0 lead. They doubled it just over two minutes later with a Lars Eller goal.

Provorov got Columbus on the board with 19 seconds remaining in the second, scoring on a backhand through traffic from the right circle to cut the deficit to 2-1 and give Columbus a chance heading into the third. The Blue Jackets, however, were unable to capitalize on anything in the final frame before Bennett restored Florida’s two-goal advantage at 14:29 of the third, scoring from the left circle during four-on-four play.

Sam Reinhart added an empty-net goal at 17:44 to seal the 4-1 final.

Head coach Rick Bowness credited Markstrom, but was also frustrated with Columbus’ inability to finish.

“We had over 70 shot attempts,” said Bowness. “Some of them we’re getting grade-A’s that we’re missing the net. That doesn’t help.”

Here’s how the Blue Jackets lost at home to the Panthers for the second time this season:

FLA: 1, CBJ: 0 (2ND PERIOD, 18:00 REMAINING)

Florida strikes early in the second period on the power play after a very questionable penalty against Charlie Coyle for tripping. Anton Lundell carries the puck through the Blue Jackets’ zone with relative ease and finds Bennett wide open for a quick shot past Talbot to make it 1-0 Panthers. Some nice moves from Florida here, but the Blue Jackets defense was all out of sorts on this one and made it way too easy for them.

FLA: 2, CBJ: 0 (2ND PERIOD, 15:43 REMAINING)

The Panthers double their lead just over two minutes after their first goal, taking advantage of a Columbus turnover in the defensive zone — an all-too-familiar story this season. Carter Verhaeghe gains possession down low and sends a pass back to Eller, who is positioned in front of the net. Eller quickly fires a wrist shot past Cam Talbot to give Florida a 2-0 advantage.

FLA: 2, CBJ: 1 (2ND PERIOD, 0:19 REMAINING)

If the Blue Jackets were going to have any chance at this one, they needed this goal from Provorov — and the defenseman makes a nice individual effort to cut Florida’s lead in half in the closing seconds. He takes a feed from Dmitri Voronkov and skates all around the zone before suddenly charging at the net and slipping a backhand shot past Jacob Markstrom to make it a 2-1 game.

FLA: 3, CBJ: 1 (3RD PERIOD, 5:31 REMAINING)

Bennett’s second goal of the night with just over five minutes remaining in a one-goal game is a dagger, and there was nothing special about it. With the teams skating at 4-on-4,  Bennett collects the puck in his own defensive zone and carries it nearly the length of the ice, working his way into the Columbus zone before firing a hard wrist shot from the left faceoff circle past Talbot.

FLA: 4, CBJ: 1 (3RD PERIOD, 2:16 REMAINING)

An empty-net goal seals the deal for the Panthers. Lundell beats Denton Mateychuk in a battle along the boards in Columbus’ own zone and then finds Reinhart with a pass. Reinhart finishes with a backhand shot into the vacated Columbus net to end it.

QUICK THOUGHTS: The first period gave the Blue Jackets a bit of hope — a scoreless game that most would say Columbus had the better of it. After that, it was all Panthers.

Florida’s third goal, which essentially put a wrap on the game, was simply a result of lazy defense. The empty-netter followed a poor play from Mateychuk, and it certainly wasn’t his only rough play of the night. He’s very talented, but this was a humbling game for him.

Ultimately, though, this was a team loss. No one looked particularly great, and that’s starting to feel like a familiar feeling with this team.

NEXT UP: The Blue Jackets will regroup Wednesday before hitting home ice again Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Puck-drop for another strong test against an Atlantic Division team is set for 7:00 p.m. It feels as though Jet Greaves will get the net in that one, but Bowness will confirm that on game day.