Another top Panthers player out until the playoffs. And more injury updates
The Florida Panthers will close out the regular season without one of their top forwards.
Sam Bennett, who centers Florida’s second line, will sit Florida’s final five games of the regular season with an upper-body injury, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after the team’s morning skate Tuesday before they host the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Maurice said there are no concerns about Bennett’s status for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“We can manage it, but he can’t play the game at his best,” Maurice said about Bennett’s current status. “He could play, but we’ve got to get him right to as close to 100 percent. We think we might be able to do that, but we’ve got to do that off ice.”
Bennett, playing in the final year of a four-year, $17,7 million deal, has had a breakout season. He set a career high with 50 points, and his 25 goals scored are the second most of his 11-year NHL career. And he hit those offensive numbers without sacrificing his gritty, physical style of play. He ranks fourth among Florida forwards with 144 hits, and his 27 takeaways are tied for fourth on the team.
Bennett is the third key Panthers player to be ruled out for the remainder of the regular season.
Star winger Matthew Tkachuk, who primarily played on Bennett’s line, hasn’t played since sustaining an apparent groin injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in mid-February. The team is hopeful he will be ready once the playoffs begin.
And defenseman Aaron Ekblad is out until Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs while serving a 20-game suspension.
More injury and lineup updates
▪ Captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov, who missed the past three games with an upper-body injury, is back in the lineup.
▪ Forward Sam Reinhart and defenseman Gustav Forsling, both of whom sat Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings, are set to play against Toronto. Sunday was the first game Reinhart had not played in the past three seasons for Florida, having skated in all 285 games (regular season and playoffs) since the start of the 2022-23 season. Forsling had played in 282 of 285 games. Both also took part in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in February.
Reinhart will be on the top line with Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe. Forsling will pair on defense with Nate Schmidt.
▪ Fourth-line center Nico Sturm, who hasn’t played since going face first into the ice following a collision with teammate A.J. Greer on Tuesday against Montreal, has been cleared to return. Maurice said he will be available to play in games starting Thursday against Detroit.
▪ Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, sidelined since sustaining an upper-body injury on March 16, could return as early as Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres. Maurice said Kulikov would not play both games of the Panthers’ season-ending back-to-back against the New York Rangers on Monday and Tampa Bay Lightning on April 15.
▪ Forward Jesper Boqvist, who has played in 74 of Florida’s 77 games this season, will not play Tuesday against Toronto. Jesse Puljujarvi, who Florida recalled Sunday from the Charlotte Checkers, its American Hockey League affiliate, will play his second consecutive game.
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