Panthers star Aleksander Barkov goes down with apparent left knee injury on illegal hit
The Florida Panthers’ dream season took a scary turn Tuesday with a potentially serious injury for Aleksander Barkov in the second period of a lopsided game against the New York Islanders in Sunrise.
The superstar center went down with an apparent left knee injury with 18:13 left in the period after taking a knee-on-knee check from Scott Mayfield in the Panthers’ offensive zone. Barkov stayed down on the ice for a long time and eventually skated to the bench without putting any weight on his left leg.
The team officially ruled out Barkov in the third period with a “lower body” injury. Barkov’s knee buckled on the hit, as Mayfield led with his own knee.
Mayfield got a five-minute misconduct — and game misconduct — penalty for kneeing and was ejected from the game. Florida was already leading by four goals when the Islanders defenseman’s illegal hit injured Barkov.
Interim coach Andrew Brunette said Barkov will be “reevaluated” on Tuesday, and will probably get an MRI or X-ray. Forward Carter Verhaeghe struck an optimistic tone.
“We saw him in the room,” the forward said, “and it looked like he’s not that bad.”
Barkov, who won the Frank J. Selke Trophy last year and finished sixth in Hart Memorial Trophy voting, had a secondary assist on the Panthers’ first goal Tuesday, extending his point streak to 10 games for first-place Florida. Entering Tuesday, Barkov led the Panthers with 16 points and nine goals, and was fifth on the team with five assists. The 26-year-old forward has established himself as one of the best players in the league in the last two seasons because of his gifted two-way play, and he plays on both the power play and penalty kill
Barkov’s injury came on the day Florida celebrated its captain for setting the franchise’s all-time goals record. It was the Panthers’ first game at FLA Live Arena since Barkov passed Olli Jokinen last Tuesday and the team played multiple videos in the first period to commemorate Barkov’s achievement, with testimonials from teammates and general manager Bill Zito.
After the second video played, the big screen cut to Barkov on the bench where he couldn’t help but smile at seeing the recognition from the team he has played his entire career for.
Barkov was the No. 2 overall pick by Florida in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and guided the Panthers to the best regular season in franchise history last year, reaching the 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs for only the second time in his career. This year, Florida opened the season with an eight-game winning streak for the best start in franchise history and still has the most points in the NHL despite a recent four-game skid. Barkov, who also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2019, has emerged as a dark-horse Hart Trophy candidate once again, tied for the ninth best odds in the league, according to SportsBettingDime.com.
Barkov also missed the Panthers’ win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 6 with an unspecified lower-body injury.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 8:40 PM.
