SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers had two of their best players available for Game 3 of their playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
Captain Aleksander Barkov was set to play after being knocked out of Game 2 by Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel, and defenseman Aaron Ekblad returned from a 20-game suspension.
Coach Paul Maurice said Saturday morning Barkov was feeling good, but the team wanted to see how the star center felt after pregame warmups two days after taking a hard hit from Hagel late in Florida's 2-0 win over Tampa Bay on Thursday that gave the Panthers a 2-0 series lead.
Hagel received a one-game suspension and did not suit up for his team's pivotal Game 3.
Barkov remained down on one knee briefly after the hit before skating off to the Panthers' dressing room. He missed the final 10:09 of the game. Hagel drew a five-minute major for interference on the play and had a call Friday afternoon with the NHL’s department of player safety, which decided on the one-game suspension.
Ekblad's return came after he was suspended 20 games without pay in March for violating the NHL and NHL Players’ Association’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
He said in a statement through the NHLPA at the time that news he had failed a random drug test shocked him, and he apologized for the error.
Before the suspension, Ekblad had 33 points while averaging a team-high 23:31 of ice time over 56 games. He was also a key special teams player for the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Maurice said he likely wouldn't put Ekblad back on the power play immediately, instead easing him back into 5-on-5 action. Nate Schmidt and Seth Jones would continue leading those units.
For Barkov, his impressive playoff streak continued. He has played in all 73 of Florida’s playoff games since he joined the club. He is Florida’s all-time leader in playoff appearances, assists (43), points (62) and is tied for third in goals (19).
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Alanis Thames, The Associated Press
