Aleksander Barkov (illness) out for Florida Panthers game vs San Jose Sharks
Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will not play Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks, sidelined by an illness that has made its way through the team’s dressing room the past few days.
Puck drop at Amerant Bank Arena is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice mentioned both after practice on Monday and morning skate Tuesday that he was uncertain about what the lineup would look like because of the illness.
It looks like Barkov is the only casualty for Tuesday.
Rookie forward Mackie Samoskevich, who the team announced at 5:30 p.m. it had recalled from AHL Charlotte, is in the lineup in Barkov’s place, while Anton Lundell moves to the top forward line to center wingers Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues.
There is no immediate word as to the severity of the illness, but the Panthers don’t play again until Saturday when they host the Seattle Kraken to cap their four-game homestand.
Here is what the forward lines and defensive pairs looked like during pregame warmups:
FORWARDS
Rodrigues-Lundell-Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe-Eetu Luostarinen-Matthew Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg-Kevin Stenlund-Nick Cousins
William Lockwood-Steven Lorentz-Samoskevich
DEFENSEMEN
Gustav Forsling-Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Niko Mikkola-Dmitry Kulikov
Josh Mahura-Uvis Balinskis
GOALTENDERS
Anthony Stolarz
Sergei Bobrovsky