Tom Wilson's Hit Knocks Out Sandis Vilmanis as Panthers Drop Weekend Road Games at Washington and Boston

The Florida Panthers lost both ends of a weekend back-to-back on the road and lost forward Sandis Vilmanis along the way. Washington's Tom Wilson was ejected for a boarding hit that sent Vilmanis headfirst into the boards early in Saturday's game, a 4-3 Capitals comeback win at Capital One Arena, and on Sunday Jeremy Swayman made 40 saves as the Boston Bruins beat Florida 4-1 at TD Garden.

The Panthers fell to 9-7-2 and have lost three of their last four games. Vilmanis did not return Saturday and did not play Sunday; ESPN lists him as out with an undisclosed injury.

The hit on Vilmanis

At 8:55 of the first period in Washington, Wilson hit Vilmanis from behind, driving him into the area where the boards and glass meet, according to the Associated Press. Wilson received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. Vilmanis, who had scored twice against Chicago in Florida's previous game, had played 2:07 on four shifts before the hit.

The Panthers made Washington pay on the major. Brady Tkachuk, already with a goal from 3:13 of the first, scored again at 10:00 for a 2-1 lead. Both of his goals were assisted by his brother, Matthew Tkachuk.

It was the high point of the night. Florida did not score again until 46.6 seconds remained.

How Washington came back

Jack St. Ivany had opened the scoring at 2:21 with his first career NHL goal, a soft shot from the right boards that slipped past goalie Akira Schmid. After Florida took the lead, Alex Tuch tied it 4:39 into the second period with his 11th goal of the season.

Washington took the lead at 14:55 of the second on a passing play. Ryan Leonard worked the puck from behind the net to Pierre-Luc Dubois in the left circle, and Dubois found Aliaksei Protas alone at the right side of the crease. Protas returned the favor at 4:42 of the third, setting up Dubois for a 4-2 lead.

Sam Bennett deflected in a shot with 46.6 seconds left to make it 4-3, with Matthew Tkachuk earning his third assist of the night, but the Panthers could not find the equalizer. The Capitals improved to 9-6-0, including 7-4-0 at home, despite playing most of the game without Wilson. Schmid made 27 saves, and Washington's Logan Thompson stopped 27 of 30.

Sunday in Boston: fights and a hot goalie

The game in Boston turned physical before the puck had settled. Defenseman Nikita Zadorov fought Brady Tkachuk two seconds after the opening faceoff, and Garnet Hathaway and Mark Kastelic dropped the gloves about six minutes later. The teams combined for 126 penalty minutes, 72 of them by Florida. Brady Tkachuk finished with 25 penalty minutes and Matthew Tkachuk 16.

Boston took control with three first-period goals. Elias Lindholm scored at 4:50 on a wrist shot that broke off goalie Jacob Markstrom and trickled behind him, a goal awarded after a lengthy review. Mikey Eyssimont poked in a loose puck after a wraparound at 6:11, and Morgan Geekie one-timed a power-play goal at 15:59 with Boston on a two-man advantage.

Carter Verhaeghe answered with a power-play goal at 18:05, his 10th of the season. But Swayman stopped everything else, including 17 shots in the first period. JJ Peterka scored 58 seconds into the third to close it out.

David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha each had two assists for Boston, and Geekie scored for the fourth straight game. The Bruins, who lead the Atlantic Division at 13-4-1, won their fourth in a row a day after placing young forward James Hagens on injured reserve. Florida had swept three games from Boston last season, each by one goal, according to the AP.

Florida outshot Boston 41-36 and outhit the Bruins 38-13, but won only 36.4 percent of the faceoffs and went 1 for 5 on the power play. Markstrom made 32 saves.

The two weekend games at a glance:

Still missing Barkov and Marchand

The Panthers continue to play without captain Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, both on injured reserve with knee injuries, according to ESPN's injury report. Each has played only two games this season.

The scoring load has fallen on a handful of players. Matthew Tkachuk leads the team with 26 points, 22 of them assists. Brady Tkachuk has 10 goals and 20 points, and Matthew assisted on all four of Florida's goals over the weekend, while Brady set up Verhaeghe's goal in Boston. Seth Jones has 20 points from the blue line, and Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart have combined for 19 goals, 12 of them on the power play.

Florida's top scorers through 18 games, according to ESPN:

Losing Vilmanis for any length of time would thin the forward group further. He has three goals and seven points in 16 games.

A cooled-off stretch

Florida came into November on a roll, winning back-to-back games against Winnipeg by a combined 10-3. Since then, the Panthers are 1-3.

The Panthers' last six games:

With 20 points, Florida sits fifth in the Atlantic Division, seven points behind Boston and four behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, who lost 4-3 in Winnipeg on Sunday.

What's next

The Panthers close their three-game road trip Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Columbus at 7:30 p.m. ET. They return to Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday, Nov. 12, for a rematch with the Detroit Red Wings, who beat them 5-3 in Sunrise on Nov. 2.