Barkov may not play until at least Tuesday when Florida hosts Boston
The Florida Panthers are looking to break out of a slump in a big way, so you’d think there’s no better place to do than Broadway.
Florida will face the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in a potential preview of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, they will have to go to battle without a pair of key players in the lineup.
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad has been out for the past two weeks with a lower-body injury, though he was seen on the ice last week and could be nearing a return in the coming days.
Panthers captain Sasha Barkov has been dealing with a nagging injury that kept him out of Florida’s two practices this week and their game against Nashville on Thursday.
Florida Head Coach Paul Maurice indicated on Friday before the team left South Florida that we may not see Barkov until they get back from their weekend trip.
“I don’t have Barkov in the lineup tomorrow. The trainers will tell me if something changes,” Maurice said.
He was then asked about Barkov possibly playing on Sunday in Philadelphia and reiterated that it will be the trainers' call.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Maurice replied. “I don’t run that end of the room. They come down and tell me who’s playing, and away we go.”
If Friday’s practice lines were any indication, it looks like Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen will be joining Sam Reinhart on the top line, but Maurice has been admittedly experimenting with different line combinations lately, so things may look different when the Cats take the ice on Saturday at MSG.
Here are the projected lines and pairings for Florida’s battle with the Blueshirts:
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Evan Rodrigues – Kevin Stenlund – Vladimir Tarasenko
Nick Cousins – Steven Lorentz – Kyle Okposo
Gus Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura – Uvis Balinskis
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