Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov tries to get up after getting knocked down by Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel during the third period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel (38) takes down Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov during the third period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel (38) takes down Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) during the third period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Barkov misses final 10 minutes of Panthers’ win after taking hit from Lightning’s Hagel
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) 鈥 Florida captain Aleksander Barkov missed the final 10:09 of the Panthers’ win in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series at Tampa Bay on Thursday night, after taking a hit from the Lightning’s Brandon Hagel.
Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov tries to get up after getting knocked down by Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel during the third period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) 鈥 Florida captain Aleksander Barkov missed the final 10:09 of the Panthers’ win in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series at Tampa Bay on Thursday night, after taking a hit from the Lightning’s Brandon Hagel.
Barkov remained down on one knee briefly after the hit, then skated off and went to the Panthers’ locker room. He did not return and after the game, Panthers coach Paul Maurice was asked if he had an update on Barkov’s condition.
鈥淣ope,鈥 Maurice said.
Hagel drew a 5-minute major for interference on the play. Florida led 1-0 at the time, and an empty-netter by Sam Bennett with about 3 seconds remaining gave the Panthers a 2-0 win in the game and 2-0 lead in the series.
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鈥淩efs made the call,鈥 said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper, who pleaded his case unsuccessfully after the penalty on Hagel was called. 鈥淚 was a little surprised it was a (major) ... five minutes in a 1-0 game with eight minutes to play, nine minutes to play, that’s a tough situation to be in.鈥
Barkov has three assists so far in the series, including one on Florida’s opening goal Thursday by defenseman Nate Schmidt 鈥 who got the winning goals in both games at Tampa. Schmidt scored twice in Florida’s 6-2 win in the series opener on Tuesday.
The question now becomes if Barkov will miss time going forward. Game 3 of the series is Saturday afternoon on the Panthers’ ice in Sunrise, where they’ll play a home playoff game for the first time since June 24, 2024 鈥 when they beat Edmonton in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
鈥淗e’s irreplaceable,鈥 Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said. 鈥淗e’s an irreplaceable player. Face-offs, power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5, playing against their top lines, one of the best centermen in the league. He’s obviously super-important to our team.鈥
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