Sasha Barkov Injured Thursday. What the Panthers Can Do Next

The Florida Panthers lost their first game of the season on Thursday night in Ottawa, but may have lost much more after captain Sasha Barkov was injured in the game’s final minutes.

Coach Paul Maurice said he did not have an update on Barkov’s injury after the 3-1 loss to the Senators.

“He’s going to looked at here tonight, and probably tomorrow as well,’’ Maurice said.

With the Panthers trying to put some pressure on Linus Ullmark down 2-1, Barkov broke his stick high in the zone.

The puck shot up the opposite way up the ice toward the empty net — and Barkov threw down his broken stick and gave chase.

Barkov and Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle converged near the net as Barkov tried to keep Stutzle from getting to the bouncing puck.

Barkov hit the ice in a slide and crashed in skates first.

After being down on the ice for a few moments, Barkov had to be helped off the ice by Uvis Balinskis and Evan Rodrigues while trying to keep weight off his right leg and into the room.

Stutzle scored his second goal of the night into that empty net for the final score.

Barkov, as usual, was trying his hardest to make a play and give his team a chance to win a game.

Because he did not have a stick in his hand, Barkov tried to use his body to stop the puck — and made a soccer-type slide to keep it out of the empty net.

He ended up going full-speed into the boards.

So, what’s next for the Panthers?

Florida will fly to Buffalo on Friday afternoon and play the Sabres on Saturday.

Barkov, if the injury is to his right knee or ankle, may have to wait to be fully evaluated by medical personnel and could fly home to South Florida in order to be examined by team doctors.

It may not be serious, we just do not know right now.

If Barkov’s injury is not deemed too bad and he only needs to miss a game, perhaps the Panthers play seven defensemen against Buffalo and move on.

But if it is more serious, the Panthers would have to make some moves.

Due to salary cap constraints, the Panthers are two players shy of the league roster maximum, with defenseman Adam Boqvist missing Thursday’s game after taking a puck off his face in the first period on Tuesday.

The Panthers are hopeful Boqvist could play on Saturday.

If Barkov is unable to play beyond Saturday, some decisions have to be made.

In the lineup, Florida could slide Anton Lundell up to center a line with Carter Verhaeghe and or Rodrigues with Sam Reinhart; Jesper Boqvist could move up to center the third line.

The Panthers have a couple of centers at AHL Charlotte they could recall, including veteran Zac Dalpe.

Rookie Patrick Giles played center in some of Florida’s early preseason games, but was moved back to the wing in the final ones.

Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov slides to try and prevent Ottawa Senators center Tim Stutzle from scoring on the empty net during the third period Thursday night. Barkov slid hard into the boards and had to be helped off the ice. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press via AP)

Dalpe may be the call here since he would be able to come right in and center a fourth line with A.J. Giles and Jonah Gadjovich.

With so little money under the salary cap — PuckPedia.com has Florida at $554,000 — Florida may be able to bring Dalpe or another player from Charlotte up under an emergency recall situation. Florida currently has no spare forwards on its roster.

Tomas Nosek, signed to be Florida’s fourth-line center, has been out since slamming into the end boards on his second shift of the preseason.

If Barkov were to be out for a substantial amount of time, he could be placed on Long-Term Injured Reserve which would allow the Panthers to spend a  over the salary cap.

That, however, would mean Barkov has to miss 10 games and 24 days of action.

Nosek is on injured reserve and considered to be out for the next couple of weeks at the least.

Florida could slide him onto LTIR retroactively — he has already missed two games — and use that money for a callup from Charlotte which could stay with the team as long as Nosek is out.

Barkov on LTIR is a worst-case scenario, but would allow Florida to use the temporary cap relief to fill the roster out to 23 players and give them some extra bodies.

ON DECK: GAME 3

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT BUFFALO SABRES

• When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
• Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/Fort Lauderdale); WHDT 9 (West Palm); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/Fort Myers)
• Streaming: Panthers+; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season (Panthers Won 3-0) — At Buffalo: Panthers 4, Sabres 0 (Feb. 15). At Florida: Panthers 3, Sabres 2 (Feb. 28); Panthers 3, Sabres 2 OT (Ap.13).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 57-45-8, 4 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Monday at Boston Bruins, 1 p.m. (Local TV)