Dmitry Kulikov exited Thursday's win over the Philadelphia Flyers [http://thn.com/philadelphia] with an upper-body injury, and following the game, coach Paul Maurice mentioned he didn't have an update at the time. He spoke again to the media after practice today, stating that there was unfortunately still no update. His availability for Saturday's game against the Ottawa Senators [http://thn.com/ottawa] is in jeopardy, and if he is unable to play, Uvis Balinskis will likely enter the Florida Panthers lineup. The Panthers played half of the game against the Flyers with five defensemen: Gustav Forsling, Aaron Ekblad, Seth Jones, Niko Mikkola, and Jeff Petry. Each defenseman stepped up and helped the Panthers win a tight 2-1 game. “(They were) really good, especially in the last 20 (minutes),” said Maurice [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-blueline-steps-up-after-injury-panthers-win-another-tight-game]. “I thought they were real clean with what they were trying to do. All those guys can play big minutes, they have in playoff games, and they've played deep into overtime games, so going to five (defenseman) for those guys isn't a big concern.” If Kulikov is injured, his absence will greatly affect the team. He's played more than 70 games in the past two seasons, while averaging 19:16 seconds last year. He's a reliable third-pairing defender who has shown the capability to move up the lineup when needed. He plays physically, blocks shots and kills penalties. Uvis Balinskis (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/3fc4cc09-b4fa-45e1-a6d2-8a5c7f543ebb.jpeg] Uvis Balinskis (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) Balinskis, 29, played in 76 games last season, notching four goals and 18 points. Although it wasn't always great for Balinskis, he proved to be trustworthy in third-pairing minutes and is the team's seventh defenseman, sticking around for scenarios like this one. More information on Kulikov will hopefully be released prior to Saturday's game, but if the early indications are correct, Balinskis is in line to make his season debut in Game 3 of the regular season. No update on Dmitry Kulikov after upper-body injury forces him out of Florida's win over Philly [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/8705b61a-0982-4253-82a3-181ff0fdeb3f.jpeg] No update on Dmitry Kulikov after upper-body injury forces him out of Florida's win over Philly The injury bug just won’t stop fluttering around the Florida Panthers. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/no-update-on-dmitry-kulikov-after-upper-body-injury-forces-him-out-of-florida-s-win-over-philly]
