The latest on three injured Panthers heading into potential series-clincher vs Hurricanes
Sam Reinhart might not have played for the Florida Panthers in their 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, but he still made his impact felt as the Panthers put themselves on the cusp of returning to the Stanley Cup Final.
Reinhart remained active with the team leading up to the game, a win which put Florida up 3-0 in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference final series. He was engaged in the pregame meeting. He did the lineup read in the dressing room before they took the ice.
He did, in essence, everything he could to be part of the team without actually playing in the game.
“He was around the whole day and did his normal routine,” Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “Like, if I wouldn’t have known, it looked like he was going to play just the way he was doing everything that he normally does on a game day. Even with him not playing in the actual game, just having him around is huge. We know he’s going to be back, so just having him around and keeping that going — he’s been reading the last few wins, so it was an awesome reading as it’s as it’s been. That fired us up for the start.”
Reinhart sustained a lower-body injury late in the first period of Game 2 against Carolina on Thursday when he took a low hit from Carolina forward Sebastian Aho.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Reinhart has not yet been cleared for Game 4 on Monday (8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max), Florida’s first chance to wrap up the series, but he has not officially been ruled out.
Reinhart has 11 points this postseason, scoring four goals and adding seven assists.
And he’s doing what he can to stay ready upon his eventual return.
“Especially with his leadership role and his leadership ability, he’s also in the the pregame meeting the hour and a half five on five meeting,” Maurice said, adding that players who aren’t playing still take part in those so that “they don’t lose the scene of it.”
Elsewhere on the injury front, Maurice said he is optimistic both defenseman Niko Mikkola and forward A.J. Greer will be available for Game 4 on Monday.
Mikkola, who scored twice on Saturday, didn’t play the final 12 minutes of Game 3 after crashing shoulder first into the boards.
Greer left with an undisclosed injury with 4:02 left to play.
“We’ll know by morning skate,” Maurice said. “I think everybody’s going to be ready to go. We’re still waiting on Sam Reinhart. I’ll have an answer for you [Monday]. I don’t think that’s a game-timer for us; we’ll just decide in the morning if he’s playing.”
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