Barkov was injured during the third period of Florida's loss in Ottawa on Thursday night

The Florida Panthers can breathe a sigh of relief regarding their captain.

There was a collective scare when Florida captain Sasha Barkov needed help leaving the ice on Thursday night in Ottawa after going skates first into the boards.

After a couple days of waiting and hoping, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice addressed the media Saturday afternoon in Buffalo and provided the first official update on Barkov.

According to Maurice, Barkov will be out of the Panthers lineup for two-to-three weeks.

There is a chance that Barkov will be back for Florida’s pair of games in Finland later this month.

The Panthers will face the Dallas Stars on Nov. 1 and 2 in Tampere, Finland, Barkov’s hometown.

Just getting the news on Saturday that Barkov didn’t suffer a long-term injury is great news for the Panthers.

Now they’ll have to manage the time without their captain, but the Cats are deep down the middle and it won’t be the worst thing to see a guy like Anton Lundell getting more ice time and responsibility.

Florida faces the Sabres on Saturday night from KeyBank Center at 7 p.m. 

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