Due to a lower-body ailment, Florida Panthers captain and first-line centre Aleksander Barkov will not play against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. Barkov is being held out as a precaution to prevent the injury from getting worse, according to Panthers coach Paul Maurice. Maurice stated, “We want it to heal completely,” during Florida’s Wednesday morning skate.
Although Maurice doesn’t think Barkov will be sidelined for too long, he did say he would bench him again on Friday against the Minnesota Wild if he wasn’t feeling well. Maurice stated, “He won’t play in that one either because of the way he plays, even if he’s at 95 percent for the Minnesota game.” In addition, Maurice stated that there are “no strains, no pulls or anything sinister” in the structure. Maurice stated, “We believe it’s very short term because we caught it early enough.”
Maurice-Kevin Stenlund-Ryan Lomberg ▪ Jonah Gadjovich-Steven Lorentz-Will Lockwood ▪ Carter Verhaeghe-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk The injury, which Maurice claimed tightened up on Barkov throughout the game, prevented Barkov from playing in the last 5:47 of regulation or the final 48 seconds of overtime in the Panthers’ 5–4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.
Maurice stated on Monday, “He’s been dealing with something that we don’t want to get worse.” And it didn’t. I believe we removed him [early enough
