Center Aleksander Barkov’s injury situation is looming over the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers, who are set to visit the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, lost Barkov to a lower-body injury during a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
Barkov left the game with 70 seconds left in the third period. He slid into the boards during a fight for the puck, and he was unable to put weight on his right leg when he was helped off the ice.
Florida coach Paul Maurice said more tests will be performed on Barkov’s leg. The Fourth Period reported Friday afternoon that Barkov would be week to week with a sprain.
Panthers forward Anton Lundell was understandably concerned when asked about Barkov.
“Hopefully he’s OK, and it’s nothing big,” Lundell said. “I saw he went down. We don’t want to see that, but I can’t say much more right now.”
Barkov, who is Florida’s captain, is one of the NHL’s top two-way forwards. He also had 23 goals and 57 assists last season, helping lead the Panthers to the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history.
As for Saturday’s matchup, these teams are as different as can be. The Panthers are the reigning champs, and the Sabres haven’t made the playoffs since 2011.
The Sabres are off to the worst start in the NHL this season, losing all three of their games and scoring just one goal in each contest.
However, at least one thing connects these two teams: Neither the Panthers (0-for-8) nor the Sabres (0-for-11) have a power-play goal this season.
The good news for the Sabres is that Zach Benson returned from a lower-body injury on Thursday as Buffalo lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1.
Benson, 19, was Buffalo’s first-round pick last year. In his rookie season, he had 11 goals and 19 assists.
In addition, Sabres forward JJ Peterka, who had been out due to a concussion, returned to a full practice on Wednesday, and there’s a good chance he will face the Panthers on Saturday.
Peterka, 22, is coming off a promising year. He had 28 goals and 22 assists in 82 games in his second full NHL season.
Saturday’s goalie matchup figures to pit Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky against either Devon Levi or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for Buffalo.
Bobrovsky has split his first two games, posting an .897 save percentage and a 3.04 goals-against average.
Levi is 0-1-0 with a .919 save percentage and a 3.17 GAA. Luukkonen is 0-2-0 with an .886 save percentage and a 2.56 GAA.
Luukkonen was in net on Thursday when the Sabres led 1-0 after two periods before the Kings rallied with three straight goals by Anze Kopitar.
“Disappointment is an understatement,” said Alex Tuch, who scored short-handed for Buffalo’s only goal on Thursday. “We played a good first 40 minutes. But you have to play a full 60 to win in this league.
“We didn’t get back to our game in the third period.”
Added Sabres coach Lindy Ruff: “We’re not going to win scoring one goal a game.”
