A small group of Florida Panthers took the ice in Fort Lauderdale on Friday.

It was less than 24 hours after the Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of their opening round series to take a 2-0 series lead, with Game 3 coming up on Saturday in Sunrise.

Late in Game 2, Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov left early after taking an illegal check from Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel.

Barkov left the game and did not return while Hagel was handed a five-minute major for interference.

The NHL Department of Player Safety also held a phone hearing with Hagel on Friday, so possible disciplinary action remains a possibility.

As for Barkov, he was not among the Panthers who worked out on the ice Friday, but Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice did provide an update on his top line center after the skate.

With Game 3 coming up Saturday at 1 p.m., the good news for Florida fans is that Barkov remains an option to play.

“He hasn’t been ruled out yet and he hasn’t been cleared,” Maurice said.

Florida won’t hold a morning skate due to the game’s early start time, so expect a final update on Barkov from Maurice sometime in the late morning.

“I’ve got two or three lineups set for tomorrow that we know what we’ll go to if Sasha can’t play,” he said.

Maurice had the Panthers cycle through several line combinations during the final weeks of the regular season so there is still going to be familiarity and chemistry with the groupings if Barkov missing the game.

As for the hit itself, Maurice did not comment when asked for his thoughts.

“I’ve got nothing for you, I’m staying out of that,” he said. “It happened, the referees made their decision, the league makes the decision and we’ll drop the puck.”

Later on, when asked about the Panthers containing Tampa star forward Nikita Kucherov by being physical with him, Maurice seemed to allude to hit on Barkov with his answer.

“The only players that we hit are the ones that have pucks,” he said.

We’ll see how things play out on the ice in Game 3.

Stay tuned.

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