Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice shared that Aleksander Barkov had a lower-body injury that tightened up on him in the third period, leading to Maurice benching the top centerman for the rest of the game. The injury has been labeled as minor but it is expected to hold Barkov out of the team’s Wednesday night game as well.
Barkov is having yet another productive season, ranked second on the Panthers in scoring with 45 points in 39 games. He’s behind only Sam Reinhart, who has 31 goals and 54 points of his own. Barkov is in the second season of an eight-year contract that carries a $10MM cap hit. He’s played in all but three of Florida’s games up to this point.
Other notes from around the league:
- Legendary goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has officially moved into second on the all-time wins list, winning his 552nd game with a 5-0 shutout over the New York Islanders. Fleury is now sat behind just Martin Brodeur. Unfortunately, Fleury is still a long way off of Brodeur’s crown, needing 141 more wins to take the top spot.
- Top 2024 NHL Draft prospect Cayden Lindstrom is set to miss four-to-six weeks after undergoing surgery. He’s been placed on injured reserve for the Medicine Hat Tigers. Lindstrom is projected to be a top-10 pick by many, boasting 27 goals and 46 points in 32 WHL games, and was recently ranked third among North American skaters in the NHL Central Scouting Service’s midyear rankings.