Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov returned to practice after missing several days with an illness. The Florida Panthers were back on the ice at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday morning as they continue preparing for their upcoming matchup with the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night. Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice has been in a precarious position of late in regard to managing the team’s roster. Between guys who are injured and an illness that is impacting several players in the locker room, it’s been anything but smooth sailing for Maurice and the Panthers early in the season. Still, despite the bumps in the road, Florida has still won three of its past four games, and there are signs that the team’s current trials and tribulations may soon be a thing of the past. We’ll start with the centermen. Sasha Barkov, who missed Florida’s win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday due to an illness, was centering a line with Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart during Friday’s practice. It was the first time we’ve seen Barkov on the ice before the Sharks game. He’s expected back in the lineup Saturday against Seattle. Sam Bennett will be a game-time decision for the Kraken game. He skated in his first full practice with the Panthers on Thursday but was held out on Friday for precautionary reasons after initially taking the ice and skating around the rink. “He went yesterday, and we weren’t 100% sure he was going to skate today,” Maurice said. “He went out there and couldn’t get it to loosen up, so he went back off.” Bennett suffered a lower-body injury during an Oct. 5 preseason game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has yet to make his regular season debut. “He’ll skate tomorrow morning and we’ll make a decision then,” Maurice said. Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett skates in his first practice of the 2023-24 regular season after suffering an injury during a preseason game. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov has also been under the weather and now he’s missed the past two practices after sitting out on Friday. He hasn’t been ruled out of Saturday’s game, but if Kulikov can’t go than Mike Reilly would slide in and make his Panthers debut. “If Kulikov doesn’t go, Reilly’s been practicing and he’s been ready. It’s his turn,” Maurice said. Rookie Mackie Samoskevich, who was recalled on Tuesday from AHL Charlotte to skate with the Panthers against San Jose, was not seen at the rink on Friday. Samoskevich no longer had a stall in Florida’s locker room, so all indications were that he'd been loaned back to Charlotte. A few hours later, the Panthers announced the move. Starting in goal for Florida on Saturday against the Kraken will be Sergei Bobrovsky. Here is how the Panthers forward lines and defensive pairings looked on Friday: Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart Carter Verhaeghe – Eetu Luostarinen – Matthew Tkachuk Ryan Lomberg – Anton Lundell – Nick Cousins Will Lockwood – Kevin Stenlund – Steven Lorentz Gus Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson Niko Mikkola – Mike Reilly Josh Mahura – Uvis Balinskis If Bennett plays on Saturday, expect Luostarinen to slide to the third line left wing spot and for Lomberg to take his usual spot on the left of the fourth line, with Lockwood being the 13th forward. LATEST THN FLORIDA STORIES Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov returns to practice after missing game with illness [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/florida-panthers-captain-sasha-barkov-returns-to-practice-after-missing-game-with-illness] Panthers Sam Bennett speaks to media for first time since training camp [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-sam-bennett-speaks-to-media-for-first-time-since-training-camp] Paul Maurice skated the Panthers extremely hard during Thursday's practice. Here's why. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/paul-maurice-skates-panthers-hard-during-practice-amid-break-in-schedule] Sam Bennett joins first Florida Panthers practice since suffering lower-body injury during preseason [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/sam-bennett-joins-first-florida-panthers-practice-since-suffering-lower-body-injury-during-preseason] 'He's a big guy back there': There's something about Anthony Stolarz the Panthers really seem to like [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/hes-a-big-guy-back-there-theres-something-about-anthony-stolarz-the-panthers-really-seem-to-like] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
