Florida’s Finnish skipper may play as early as the night before Sunday. The NHL games to be played in Finland next week should not be in danger.
Finnish captain of the Florida Panthers Alexander Barkov may return to real action in the hockey NHL as early as the night before Sunday Finnish time, when Florida faces the New York Islanders in the away arena.
Florida head coach Paul Maurice opened Barkov’s situation on the NHL’s website and confirmed that his star player is fine.
– It is possible that he can play already on Saturday, Maurice referred local time to the Islanders match to be played on Saturday.
– Right now, it seems more likely that he will return to action on Monday against the Buffalo Sabres. If he feels good, we are sure that the return will happen on Monday at the latest, Maurice drew the deadline.
Barkov was injured in his second game of the season when he tried to stop the Ottawa Senators from making a point-blank shot into an empty net and collided with the end of the rink. Florida lost to Ottawa 1–3. Since then, the Finnish captain has been sidelined for seven matches.
Reigning champion Florida has started the season well and is in the top bracket of the Eastern Conference. Barkov’s return schedule has been particularly interesting in Finland because Florida will play two regular season games next week in Barkov’s hometown of Tampere. Opposite is Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Roope Hintz starred by the Dallas Stars. In addition to Barkov, Finns play in Florida’s team Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola.