George Richards, FHN Publisher
SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers were without captain Sasha Barkov for practice on Sunday morning and it was little surprise who replaced him as center of the team’s top line.
Anton Lundell, who is sometimes referred to as ‘Baby Barky,’ is getting a prime opportunity.
Barkov was hurt early in the third period of Florida’s 2-1 win in Anaheim on Friday night and will miss tonight’s game against visiting Edmonton with a left knee injury.
Coach Paul Maurice said Sunday that Barkov’s injury does not appear to be serious and categorized him as “day-to-day.’’
With Barkov out, the Panthers need someone to step up and step in — and Lundell has been here before.
“You never want anyone to be away and hopefully we get Barky back as soon as we can,” Lundell told FHN following practice on Sunday.
“But now, for us other guys, it is time to step up and fill his role. We’re a team, we work together and we’re going to keep going.”
When Barkov missed time last season either due to injury or illness, the Panthers often times went to Lundell.
This time around, putting Lundell up with Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe makes complete sense as Lundell has a history with both.
And, if things are not working, Maurice said the Panthers very easily can flip Verhaeghe with Eetu Luostarinen.
Although Lundell is off to a slow start this season, he is coming off his best game thus far.
In the first period Friday night, Lundell set up both of Florida’s goals with a pair of exceptional passes from behind the goal line.
On the initial goal, Lundell played a game of a give-and-go with Luostarinen, the passing so quick, Anaheim goalie John Gibson had no clue where the puck was — and was looking behind him as Luostarinen popped the puck into the back of the net.
Not long later, Lundell held onto the puck an extra second or two as Oliver Ekman-Larsson pulled into the slot before feeding him with a perfect pass on the tape.
“I have been feeling good lately,” Lundell said. “Our line has been able to create a lot of chances and it feels good to finally get some goals from it, for sure. It is a lot about confidence. When you aren’t producing, you have to try until you make it. I have felt we were real close to having our best game, had great chances but were not able to produce. The bounces haven’t been on our side. It felt good to get a couple goals. That was a big win to end that road trip.”
Coming into the game, Lundell had a goal and five assists; Luostarinen had two assists as he moved from centering the second line to working back on both wings of other lines.
It was a good night for Lundell, Luostarinen and Nick Cousins on the third line but, unfortunately, the injury to Barkov means it’s time for a change.
“Luostarinen, Cousins and Lundell were incredible in that game,” Maurice said. “That was as good as a line has played in a long time. They were dominant. You don’t want to break that up.”