Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will have an MRI done on his left leg after exiting Thursday night's overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks.
Florida Panthers fans' worst nightmare might be becoming true.
On Thursday, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov left the game against the San Jose Sharks early with what appeared to be a lower-body injury, sustained to his left leg.
The injury was awkward to watch. In what was a very physical game with questionable hits from both sides, it was a nothing-burger play that resulted in Barkov's injury.
The 31-year-old was battling for a puck in the corner when Darnell Nurse gave an ever so slight push to Barkov, barely enough to not throw Barkov off stride. But Barkov's left skate glided along the ice, and his leg buckled, sending him down. Barkov stood up on his own, but immediately opened the gate to the locker room, threw his gloves in disgust, and did not return to the game.
This injury comes almost a year after Barkov tore his ACL and MCL on his right knee, which forced him to miss the entire NHL season. Barkov took his time rehabbing the injury, but it's common for players to suffer injuries to the opposite knee after dealing with ACL and MCL surgery. There are several factors to why this might happen, but the most common is the additional stress the other knee takes on.
Tearing his left ACL and MCL is worst case scenario, and the Panthers will be hoping that it's not the case.
Barkov will undergo an MRI today to better understand what he is dealing with, but coach Paul Maurice said the injury is unrelated to the one he had last year.
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