Sasha Barkov Catches Elbow, Leaves Game in Vegas

Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov caught an inadvertent elbow from Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez and left the game in the first period on Thursday night.

Barkov was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

In the first, Barkov and Martinez were both going for a puck along the backwall when Martinez went to swing at the puck to clear it around; In the process, Barkov caught an elbow in the face.

After being looked at on the bench by team medical trainer Dave DiNapoli, Barkov went off to the Florida room.

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Barkov did not return for the remainder of the first period and did not come out for the second according to FloridaPanthers.com reporter Jameson Olive.

Florida and Vegas went to the break tied at 1.

The Panthers were also without Evan Rodrigues after he blocked a shot with what appeared to be his ankle. He left the game in the first and returned — but was also ruled out following the first intermission.

Vegas opened the scoring at 3:59 of the first when Pavel Dorofeyev put back a rebound off a shot from Mark Stone.

The Panthers evened things up at 14:15 when Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s hard shot came off the end boards and went right to a waiting Sam Bennett.

This was Florida’s first game back in Vegas since losing Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Knights back in June.

The Panthers won the first meeting between the two on Dec. 23, winning 4-2 in Sunrise.

Florida ended up winning 4-1 on Thursday night thanks to a 6-for-6 penalty kill and three power play goals.

Coach Paul Maurice did not have an update on either Barkov or Rodrigues saying both would be checked by doctors on Friday.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

ON DECK

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ COLORADO AVALANCHE

• When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
• Where: Ball Arena, Denver
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season: Split 1-1
• This Season — At Colorado: Saturday. At Florida: Feb. 10.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Colorado leads 27-12-5, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday at St. Louis, 8 p.m.