OTTAWA – Florida Panthers captain Alexander Barkov (upper body) will miss both consecutive games this weekend, coach Paul Maurice announced after practice at Bell Senseplex on Friday.
Sitting third in the Atlantic division at 44-27-4, the Panthers will face the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.
“It’s not serious, but he’s not playing this weekend,” Maurice said of the injury.
Barkov appeared to have been injured during a match in Montreal on Tuesday.
After finishing the game in the second term, he returned at the start of the third term and continued to play throughout the team’s 3-2 overtime loss.
Barkov, the main man in the middle of the Panthers, scored with 67 points (19 goals, 48 assists) and ranked second in the team with 56.9% of the showdown.
Competing for this third Serke Trophy, he boasts a percentage of 57.83.
In addition to Barkov, the Panthers do not have Nico Sturm and Matthew Tokachuk in advance.
In the backend, Dmitry Kulikov and Aaron Ekblad are still out.
As they tried to fill the void up front, the Panthers mixed the lines during today’s practice.
Sam Bennett worked with Jesper Bocvist and Sam Reinhart, Anton Landell worked with Etu Luostalinen and Brad Marchand, Evan Rodriguez worked with Carter Verhege and Mackie Samoskevich, and Thomas Nose worked with AJ Grier and Jonah Gadjovic.
“We have the opportunity to experiment, but it’s forced on us,” Maurice said of the change. “When Barkov gets out of the lineup, the men on centre ice change. We just look at different people.”
As for Sturm, who was injured against the Canadians on Tuesday, the team’s fourth-row center could return as early as next week.
“He’s pushed here today, and today on ice,” Maurice said. “If everything goes well, he’ll be available to us when we come back and in the middle part of this week.”
Stay tuned at floridapanthers.com for future updates.
