The Florida Panthers welcomed back Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell to practice, and the pair of forwards will be back in the lineup on Sunday. Unfortunately, Sam Bennett is day-to-day, and Sam Reinhart will not travel with the club for their four-game road trip.
The Florida Panthers are preparing to depart for Seattle, as they’ll begin a four-game Western Conference road trip.
Before leaving, they held a practice, one that featured Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell, who both missed the Panthers’ most recent game, and did not feature Sam Bennett or Sam Reinhart, the two goal scorers from Thursday’s win.
Verhaeghe missed the most recent game after something tightened up on the left winger. It appears he is feeling better and was seen skating alongside Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich.
As for Lundell, his injury remains undisclosed, but he skated next to his usual linemate, Eetu Luostarinen, and Matthew Tkachuk during practice this morning.
Both Verhaeghe and Lundell will play on Sunday.
Reinhart has been dealing with a soft-tissue injury, and coach Paul Maurice recently mentioned they are trying to get ahead of it. Unfortunately for Reinhart, his injury issue is more severe, and he'll miss the Panthers' upcoming four-game road trip.
“It’s more than one thing he’s been dealing with,” said Maurice. He also added that Reinhart has been playing through it for a while.
Sam Bennett (24 goals and 50 points in 65 games) and Sam Reinhart (29 goals and 61 points in 64 games). (James Guillory-Imagn Images)Shifting to Bennett, the 29-year-old has not missed a game this season, but was once dealing with an upper-body injury that forced him to leave a game early. He's listed as day-to-day but will travel with the team.
Finally, Uvis Balinkskis was absent from practice as he attempts to recover from an undisclosed issue, but just a couple of weeks ago, he left a game after blocking a shot with his leg. His status is to be determined.
Seth Jones and Jonah Gadjovich skated today as extras, and there is hope they can return to game action on this trip. Maurice said Jones is likely to play, and that Gadjovich can potentially return at the end of the trip.
Aleksander Barkov once again joined the group in a non-contact jersey.
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