Florida Panthers make decision on Aleksander Barkov for Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final
It’s official: Florida Panthers captain will play in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice confirmed the news after the team’s morning skate at Rogers Place.
Barkov will assume his normal spot as the center on Florida’s top line. He ran with Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart on his wings during morning skate.
The decision puts an end to a nerve-wracking 60-plus hours for the Panthers after Barkov sat out the final 9:38 of Florida’s 4-1 win in Game 2 on Monday — a win that gave the team a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final — after taking an elbow to the face by Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl in the Panthers’ defensive zone.
Barkov fell, tried to get up under his own power and then tumbled back to the ice before being helped to the dressing room.
At the moment, the Panthers were only up by a goal, and Panthers coach Paul Maurice said he did not keep Barkov out as a precautionary measure.
“There’s 9:28 on the clock in a 2-1 game. I’m not holding him” if he can play, Maurice said then in a hushed, stern tone.
Things were more optimistic a day later, with Maurice saying Tuesday that Barkov “wasn’t worse” and that they “should be in good shape” if he continued to progress.
Barkov was then a full participant in practice on Wednesday before the team flew out to Edmonton. Maurice did not want to make a decision on Barkov’s playing status at that moment, instead waiting to see how the center felt following morning skate.
Sure enough, Barkov is good to go.
“It’s the driver of my mood, right?” Maurice said after practice Wednesday before the team left for Edmonton. “Yeah, you go through that fear maybe is the right word. No one wants to lose their captain. And you don’t know if you have lost him for a block of time. Then you find out you might not have, [and] you’re in a much better mood.”
Barkov, who won his second career Selke Trophy this season as the NHL’s best two-way forward, is tied for the team lead with 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) this postseason and has been a focal point in limiting the opposition’s top players. The Panthers have given up just eight goals when Barkov is on the ice at 5-on-5.
“Obviously it’s a good thing he’s feeling better,” Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen said. “Just looking forward to seeing him play next game.”
As for Draisaitl, he was given no additional consequence for the hit beyond the two-minute minor penalty he received in the game — a penalty that led to an Evan Rodrigues power-play goal to push Florida’s lead to 3-1.
After the game, Draisaitl called the play “just a hit.”
“I don’t think there’s anything dirty about it,” Draisaitl said then. “Maybe I got him a little high. Certainly not with intent to injure, though, or anything like that.”
He doubled down on that assertion pregame Thursday.
“I looked at it,” Draisaitl said. “First of all, I think we all know I’m not a player who plays with an intent to injure anybody by any means. I have no track record of that. I’m not a player who enjoys that part of the game, injuring other players or anything like that. I caught him in an unfortunate spot. So, yeah, I’ll leave it at that. [I] can’t stress enough I’m not someone who plays the game of hockey wanting to injure anybody.”
More lineup notes
▪ Panthers forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who did not practice Wednesday while dealing with what Maurice called a “minor thing,” will also play in Game 3.
▪ The Oilers are expected to make a few lineup changes, but coach Kris Knoblauch would not divulge specifics.
“You’re going to have to wait and find out,” Knoblauch said Thursday morning.
The Edmonton perspective
For the Oilers’ vantage point ahead of Game 3, here are some stories courtesy of the Edmonton Journal...
▪ Edmonton Oilers need to unleash biggest weapon; teammates feel Nurse’s pain
▪ 5 THINGS: How will the Edmonton Oilers turn this Stanley Cup Final around?
▪ ‘We’ve seen a lot worse’: Two-nothing is nothing, say Edmonton Oilers
This story was originally published June 13, 2024 at 1:25 PM.
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