Florida may need to call up a defenseman following the two-game suspension handed to Dmitry Kulikov
The Florida Panthers were back on the ice at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday morning, preparing for their upcoming home game against the Nashville Predators.
Florida hasn’t played since Saturday, a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and will be entering Thursday’s game against the red-hot Preds in something of a mini-funk.
The Panthers, you see, have lost two straight games and haven’t played particularly well over their past four or five.
Hoping to get back on track against one of the hottest teams in the NHL will be a tough but welcomed challenge for Florida.
What the Cats’ lineup will look like is still somewhat in question.
Panthers captain Sasha Barkov has not skated with the team this week, working on his own ahead of Wednesday’s practice instead.
He has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury that Barkov and the team’s training staff are working to get as close to completely healed as possible.
Forward Matthew Tkachuk left Monday’s practice after suffering an apparent injury during a drill.
He was not on the ice for Wednesday’s practice, and afterward Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said his status for Thursday’s game remains up in the air.
“I think Barkov plays, for sure,” coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ll have to get Tkachuk back on the ice. He may be 100% fine, but because he didn’t skate today, I can’t give you a stronger answer. Barkov did skate this morning.”
Forward Evan Rodrigues missed Monday’s practice but was back on the ice with his teammates Wednesday.
He skated on a line with Sam Bennett and Nick Cousins.
Florida also has a decision to make on the blueline.
Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov has been suspended two games by the NHL Department of Player Safety for an illegal hit to the head of Tampa Bay’s Conor Sheary on Saturday.
The Panthers are already missing Aaron Ekblad, who has begun skating but is still at least a few days away from returning to regular practices, with Josh Mahura sliding into the lineup to fill in for Ekblad.
The only other defenseman on Florida’s active roster is Tobias Bjornfot, who was claimed off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights back on the NHL Trade Deadline a couple Friday’s ago.
The young rearguard has 119 games of NHL experience under his belt, but only 13 of those have come over the past two seasons.
Florida may elect to go a different route and call up defenseman Uvis Balinskis from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.
After starting the season with the Panthers while Ekblad and Brandon Montour were recovering from respective offseason surgeries, Balinskis has since become a regular on the Checkers blueline.
He’s racked up three goals and 21 points in 35 games with Charlotte while earning a reputation as a reliable defender who can play big minutes and in any situation.
“We’ll make a lineup decision tonight after 5 o’clock on what we’ll do with that,” Maurice said.
The Panthers will be back on the ice Thursday for a morning skate ahead of their game against Nashville.
We’ll likely get some more definitive answers on the lineup after the skate in Fort Lauderdale.
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