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The Florida Panthers kicked their post-championship season off with another win, this time against the Boston Bruins on opening night. That said, the franchise endured two losses shortly after, dropping the following game to the Ottawa Senators and watching Aleksander Barkov crash into the boards and suffering an injury. Barkov collided with the boards while trying to prevent an empty-net goal, leading to concerns about the severity of his injury, one he has yet to rehab from.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice provided an initial recovery timeline ranging from two-to-three weeks when he first spoke after that game on Oct. 12. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Maurice shared an honest update on Barkov's status on Sunday, following the Panthers' 4-3 overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“We’re hopeful that [Barkov returns] sometime on the New York trip,” Maurice said . “It may not be, but we are quite confident that means in Finland. "This kind of injury, you need a week of hard skating with no relapse.
We're really happy with where it is." Barkov needed help getting off the ice after colliding into the boards with Stützle pic.twitter.
com/p5BNzHYc2E While it can be considered an encouraging update, Maurice left the door open for a potential delay on Barkov's return to the ice. That, however, could make sense as the Panthers will play in Barkov's hometown in November. The NHL Global Series in Finland are scheduled for Nov.
1-2 and those two games will take place in Tampere. The Panthers still have to play the Minnesota Wild (Oct. 22), the New York Rangers (Oct.
24), the New York Islanders (Oct. 26), and the Buffalo Sabres (Oct. 28) before boarding the trip to Europe.
It is possible the team leaves Barkov off its lineups for the next few games and possibly the full New York trip if only to avoid any setbacks hurting the forward and leaving him out of the back-to-back matchups against the Dallas Stars in his country. Related: Panthers In Talks With Upcoming Free Agent: 'Lots of Teams Watching'.
