Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16), center, makes his way to the bench after being hit by Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel (38) in the third period in Game 2 of the first round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs Thursday, April 24, 2025 in Tampa.
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice did not have an immediate update on captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov following the team’s 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series on Thursday.
Barkov did not play the final 10:09 after being leveled by the Lightning’s Brandon Hagel behind the Tampa Bay net. Hagel was handed a five-minute major penalty for interference on the play, and Barkov went to the dressing room under his own power but did not return to the game.
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When asked postgame if there was any update on Barkov, Maurice simply said “Nope.” An exact injury was not disclosed.
Game 3 of the best-of-7 series will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Florida leads the series 2-0.
While the Panthers will hold out hope that Barkov won’t miss time, losing him for any stretch will be tough. He plays in all situations as part of the top power-play as well as being a significant member of the team’s penalty kill, which went a perfect 5 for 5 on Thursday and is 7 for 8 overall in the series.
“He’s an irreplaceable player,” defenseman Seth Jones said. “Face-offs, power play, penalty kill, five-on-five, playing against their top lines, the matchups every night. He’s one of the best time in the league. Obviously, he’s super important to our team.”
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Added Anton Lundell, who usually assumes Florida’s top-line center responsibilities when Barkov is sidelined: “He means everything. He’s our captain, our leader. Obviously we never want to have him out of the lineup, but at the same time, we’ve got to be able to step up — everybody, not just me, the whole team. He’s been carrying us a lot during the whole season, so we all own him that to step up and make sure that the job is taken care of.”
Florida on Thursday held its own during the time it played without Barkov. The Panthers held the Lightning to just three shots on goal in the third period, including just two in that 10-plus minute stretch with Barkov sidelined to keep the game at 1-0 until Sam Bennett sealed the game with an empty-netter with 3.4 seconds left in regulation.
