Florida Panthers' Aleksander Barkov's fate after scary injury last night confirmed
The Florida Panthers held their breath after an injury scare for captain Aleksander Barkov, but now it appears the star forward has avoided a major injury.
The Florida Panthers made history a season ago when they captured their first ever Stanley Cup, and on Thursday, they feared that their chances of a repeat were completely gone when captain Aleksander Barkov went down in a scary collision.
The team would go on to lose a matchup with their Atlantic Division rivals the Ottawa Senators, but the result of the game was the least of their worries as fans feared for the status of Barkov. Now, the first update on their captain has been a positive one, with The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta revealing that it's not a long-term injury, and in fact, Barkov will be seen as just week-to-week with a sprain.
This is a massive win for the Panthers, who have a deep forward group without Barkov, but with their fearless leader on the ice, this is one of the toughest teams in the entire NHL to play alongside the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart. It's not all positive however, as it's still a sprain that's likely to keep him off the ice for at least a few weeks, and it's unclear when he'll be back to 100% with a very long season ahead, but it's definitely not what some fans had feared in the moment.
After winning the Stanley Cup, the Panthers are now consistently going to get every teams best shot during the regular season, and with such a tough schedule, the team will need to be at 100% as much as they can throughout the year.
