A top Panthers defenseman misses practice, but Florida is optimistic he’ll ‘be back soon’
The Florida Panthers got through the first week of postseason training camp unscathed, but now they’re dealing with some injuries on defense.
Aaron Ekblad and Chase Priskie both missed practice Wednesday at the Florida Panthers IceDen, and Joel Quenneville didn’t have specific timelines for either two to return to the ice. The coach sounded more optimistic about Ekblad with less certainty about Priskie’s status.
“We’ll see on Prisser,” Quenneville said, “and Ek should be back soon.”
Quenneville did not give a reason for either defenseman’s absence.
Ekblad has spent training camp in Coral Springs working as part of Florida’s top defensive pairing with fellow defenseman Mackenzie Weegar. Priskie, who went down with an undisclosed injury in practice Tuesday, played the entire regular season playing in the American Hockey League, and primarily has spent camp working in the Panthers’ secondary group of prospects and minor-league players there for insurance purposes.
The Panthers are not scheduled to practice Thursday and plan to travel to Toronto on Sunday. Florida will play an exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena next Wednesday, then open the qualifying round against the New York Islanders on the first day of August.
Defense was an issue all season for Florida and Ekblad was the team’s top defenseman, leading the team in defensive point shares and ranking second among defensemen in scoring. The Panthers allowed an average of 3.25 goals per game in the regular season — tied for third worst in the league and the worst mark among any team taking part in the expanded postseason.
Where to watch Panthers playoff games
Florida’s first three games against the Islanders in Canada will all be on local television in addition to NBC Sports, Fox Sports Florida announced Wednesday.
Fox Sports Florida will also air the Panthers’ exhibition game against the Islanders next Wednesday at noon.
Play-by-play announcer Steve Goldstein and color analyst Randy Moller will work all the games remotely from Fox Sports Florida’s studio in Fort Laurderdale.
So far, game times have been announced for the Panthers’ first three games in the best-of-five series against New York next month. Florida opens the postseason at 4 p.m. on Aug. 1, then will play back-to-back noon games Aug. 3 and 4. Game 4, if necessary, is slated for Aug. 7 and a winner-take-all Game 5 would be Aug. 9. Fox Sports Florida did not say whether it would broadcast the final two games of the series if they happen.
