FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers would possibly get injured captain Aleksander Barkov again a bit faster than anticipated. If nothing else, he’s nonetheless on monitor to play when the Stanley Cup champions go to his native Finland for a pair of video games subsequent month.
Barkov skated Thursday for the primary time since leaving a sport at Ottawa on Oct. 10 with a lower-body harm. If all goes properly, he might return to the Panthers’ lineup someday on their upcoming highway journey that features an Oct. 24 sport on the New York Rangers, an Oct. 26 sport on the New York Islanders and an Oct. 28 sport on the Buffalo Sabres.
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The important thing, Panthers coach Paul Maurice stated, is for Barkov to get via per week of arduous skating with none recurrence of harm or different setbacks.
“He is actually in tune to his physique,” Maurice stated Thursday, noting that the Panthers are taking a “sensible as an alternative of cautious” strategy with Barkov’s timeline. “He places numerous time into it. He was right here for a very long time [Wednesday] getting labored on. He’ll play as quickly as he says he is 100% prepared.”
Thursday’s dwelling sport in opposition to the Vancouver Canucks would be the fourth in a row that Barkov will miss. He’s additionally anticipated to be out Saturday in opposition to the Vegas Golden Knights and Tuesday in opposition to the Minnesota Wild.
The harm occurred with a few minute left of the Panthers’ 3-1 loss to the Senators on Oct. 10 when Barkov crashed into the top boards. He was making an attempt to stop an empty-net objective, giving chase towards a unfastened puck that Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle tapped into the online to seal the Senators’ win.
“Anytime you may see your captain getting again on the market and making strides in the direction of a comeback is clearly a lift in the direction of your locker room,” Florida ahead Sam Reinhart stated.
There was extra excellent news on the Panthers’ availability entrance Thursday: Maurice stated ahead Matthew Tkachuk is recovering properly from an undisclosed sickness and stays on tempo to return Tuesday in opposition to Minnesota. He additionally hasn’t performed because the Ottawa sport.
Tkachuk is tentatively scheduled to renew skating Friday, Maurice stated.
Barkov — the reigning Selke Trophy winner because the NHL’s finest defensive ahead — is in his twelfth season, all with the Panthers. The 29-year-old was the primary Finnish-born participant to be the captain of a Stanley Cup champion when Florida topped Edmonton for final season’s title.
The Panthers are scheduled to play video games in Barkov’s homeland Nov. 1 and a couple of, once they journey to Tampere, Finland, for a pair of matchups in opposition to the Dallas Stars.
Barkov is the Panthers’ profession chief in various classes, together with objectives (266), assists (446), factors (712) and game-winning objectives (48). He had one help within the first two Florida video games this season.
