SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers are having a rough western road trip.
It began without captain Sasha Barkov, who remained in South Florida while dealing with a non-COVID illness over fears that it may spread to other members of the team if he traveled.
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Following a pair of losses to Edmonton and Calgary on consecutive nights to kick off the expedition, Florida picked up a win in Vancouver, but it came at a cost.
Second-year center Anton Lundell, who had points in four straight games, including three goals, was injured during the first period.
Head coach Paul Maurice said the injury was “not something that’s a long-term concern,” after the game, but Lundell did not play two nights later when the Panthers defeated Seattle.
Once again, the win would come at a cost.
Still without Barkov and now without Lundell, Florida would also see defenseman Radko Gudas and forward Patric Hornqvist leave the game due to injury.
Gudas was hurt on a play where he and teammate Sam Bennett collided while tied up with Vancouver’s Jared McCann along the boards. He crawled off the ice and needed help getting down the tunnel to Florida’s dressing room.
Hornqvist was blindsided by a hit in the middle of the ice from Seattle’s Daniel Sprong on a play where he didn’t have the puck but no penalty was called.
Here’s the hit on Patric Hornqvist. No puck. No penalty. pic.twitter.com/kkYlAjaVhO
— David Dwork (@DavidDwork) December 4, 2022
Despite finishing the game with only 15 skaters instead of the usual 18, the Panthers took down the red-hot Kraken 5-1 for a second straight win on the roadie.
After the game, Maurice said Gudas and Hornqvist, both of whom were designated with upper-body injuries, would be reevaluated the following day.
That was Saturday night. Now it’s Monday and while there has been no update on Gudas, Hornqvist was placed on Injured Reserve on Sunday and according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, Hornqvist is bound for LTIR.
As we remember from Aaron Ekblad’s injury earlier this season, going on LTIR means the player must miss a minimum of ten games and 24 days.
This would keep Hornqvist out until at least Dec. 29 when Florida comes out of the Holiday Break to face Montreal at FLA Live Arena, if he’s healthy enough to return when eligible.
Moving Hornqvist and his $5.3 million salary to LTIR will give the Panthers some much-needed relief under the salary cap.
After skating shorthanded basically the entire road trip, Florida will now have some flexibility to fill out their roster will players from their AHL affiliate in Charlotte, or elsewhere if GM Bill Zito chooses to make any outside moves.
That will likely depend on the extent of Hornqvist’s injury.
Should he need to be out longer than the 10 game, 24 day minimum, there will be some decisions to make.
Obviously there have been questions arising regarding Anthony Duclair and his return from Achilles tendon surgery and how Hornqvist and his cap hit going away could clear a spot for Duclair to return.
That’s not going to happen any time soon. The two are not correlated.
Duclair has been progressing in his recovery and could be days away from getting back on the ice, if he hasn’t already, but a return to Florida’s lineup won’t be in the cards for at least another month after that.
The Panthers are set to practice on Monday afternoon in Jackson, Wyoming before heading up to Winnipeg to wrap up their road trip.
Maurice may provide some insight into a timetable for Hornqvist, and an update on Gudas, afterwards.
Regardless, there are going to be some new faces around the Panthers as they continue to navigate what has been an extremely trying season to this point.
Despite everything, Florida currently holds a 12-9-4 record and with a win on Tuesday, can finish what began as a disastrous road trip with seven of a possible ten points.