Barkov has not played since suffering a lower-body injury on Oct. 10
Barkov has not played since suffering a lower-body injury on Oct. 10
The Florida Panthers are getting their captain back.
After missing the past eight games with a lower-body injury, Panthers center Sasha Barkov will be in the lineup when the Cats face the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.
The news was confirmed by Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice following the team's morning skate at KeyBank Center.
"Barky's in," Maurice proclaimed.
Barkov was injured back on Oct. 10 during Florida’s 3-1 loss in Ottawa.
During the game’s final minute, Barkov was trying to defend against an empty net goal when he and Senators forward Tim Stutzle went awkwardly into the boards behind Florida’s goal.
Barkov went in skates first and needed help leaving the ice.
He began skating a couple weeks ago and has been ramping up his recovery, with hopes of making it back into the Panthers lineup before they traveled to Finland later this week for a pair of games against the Dallas Stars in Barkov’s hometown of Tampere.
Barkov’s return will allow Florida to play with the traditional 12 forwards and six defenseman for the first time in weeks.
"Depth at center and between all the positions," Maurice said when asked how Barkov's return will help the team. "Between faceoffs, power play, penalty kill, line matchups, especially when you get out on the road and they have such a dominant offensive line, you need to have more than one center. Anton Lundell's line has been fantastic for us in Barkov's absence, but the depth at center is felt possibly more than any other position."
Blueliner Uvis Balinskis had been playing forward in the meantime, but he’ll shift back to defense on Monday, with Adam Boqvist coming out of the lineup, per Maurice.
Based off the team’s line rushes during their morning skate, Barkov will be skating with Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart, with Jesper Boqvist taking Reinhart’s spot on the line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.
Florida went 5-2-1 in their eight games without Barkov, and currently sit in first place of the Atlantic Division with 13 points through 10 games.
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