Barkov’s Status for Florida Panthers Game vs. Wild in Question

SUNRISE — Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov did not practice with the team on Thursday after missing Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Detroit with a lower-body injury.

Barkov skated on his own ahead of practice and is scheduled to skate again before the team makes a decision on his status for Friday’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

“He is day-to-day, so we will see how well he skated this morning, and then he will skate again tomorrow if he feels good,” coach Paul Maurice said.

“But I don’t have an update for the game tomorrow until he skates in the morning.”

The Most Trusted Source of Florida Panthers Coverage, Anywhere

Join The Florida Hockey Now Team!

Barkov has been missing with a lower-body injury since the final minutes of the third period in the team’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.

“He’s been dealing with something that we don’t want to get worse,” Maurice said after that game. “And it didn’t. We got him early enough.”

Maurice said he expected Barkov to “be a player for us” for Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, which he ended up missing.

Prior to that Anaheim game, Maurice, Barkov and the training staff cleared Barkov to play before the injury “tightened up on him” late in the game.

NOTEBOOK

Nick Cousins re-joined the team for practice for the first time since sustaining a concussion on Jan. 2.

Maurice said it will be a while before he sheds the yellow non-contact jersey, as he is in the early stages of working his way back from the injury.

Jonah Gadjovich missed Thursday’s practice with an illness, per Maurice.

ON DECK

MINNESOTA WILD @ FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Friday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Last Season: Florida won 2-0
• This Season (Wild lead 1-0) — At Minnesota: Wild 2, Panthers 0 (Oct. 12). At Florida: Friday.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Minnesota leads 19-10-2, 1 tie
• Up Next for the Panthers: Monday at Nashville, 8 p.m.