TAMPA — Aleksander Barkov sustained an undisclosed injury for the Florida Panthers during the third period of a 2-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
Barkov left after he was hit away from the puck by Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel at 9:51 of the third. Hagel was assessed a major penalty for the hit, which caused Barkov to stay down on the ice for a bit before being attended to by Florida’s medical staff.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice did not provide an update on Barkov’s injury or status following the game. The Panthers, who hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, will practice Friday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Maurice said he would have more of an update then.
“He’s irreplaceable. He’s an irreplaceable player,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said. “Face-offs, power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5, playing against their top lines with matchups every night. One of the best centermen in the League. Obviously, he’s super important to our team.”
Barkov, who is the captain of the Panthers, has been a dominant force for Florida in the first two games of the series.
In the Panthers’ 6-2 victory in Game 1 on Tuesday, Barkov had two assists and went 14-for-18 on face-offs in 18:40 of ice time. On Thursday, he was directly involved in the goal that gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead. He won a face-off in the left circle back to Sam Reinhart, who then passed across to Nate Schmidt for a one-timer from the top of the right circle.
That was the only goal of the game before Sam Bennett shot into an empty net at 19:56.
“He’s a captain, he’s our leader, but we’ve got good depth, we’ve got a good group of guys, and we’re going to step [up] and do a little extra for each other, for him as well,” goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said.
If the Panthers are forced to play without Barkov in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, SCRIPPS, MAX, truTV, TBS, SN, TVAS), it will be a situation they are at least recently familiar with.
Barkov, who was second on the Panthers with 71 points (20 goals, 51 assists) in 67 games, missed three games from April 2-6 because of an upper-body injury that Maurice described as “not that serious.” Barkov returned to play in Florida’s next two games before sitting out two of its final three for rest.
“He means everything. He’s our captain, our leader,” said forward Anton Lundell, who has filled in for Barkov on the top line in the past.
“You never want to have him out of your lineup, but at the same time, everyone needs to step up. Not just me, everyone. [Barkov] has been carrying us the whole season, so we owe him that, to step up and make sure the job is taken care of.”
