SUNRISE - Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad set the franchise record for most games played Saturday night, skating in his 807th career game - a milestone he openly said he never wanted, because reaching it required captain Sasha Barkov to miss time with injuries.
The record came in a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild, a bittersweet backdrop for the 30-year-old Ekblad, who was selected by Florida with the first overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft and has spent all 13 of his NHL seasons with the organization. Barkov, who previously held the record, is expected to miss the next 6-8 weeks rehabbing a left-leg injury sustained in the second game of the current season against the San Jose Sharks.
“I don’t want to,” Ekblad said last season as he edged closer to Barkov’s record. “I hope that’s not bad luck for me, but I mean, I’ll follow [Barkov] anywhere. I hope to continue to follow him throughout his career.”
Ekblad had first tied the record at 804 games on March 31 but never broke it, missing the final eight games of last season with a fractured finger. The two shared the record at the start of the current season before Barkov’s latest knee setback put Ekblad back on pace to surpass him, Florida Hockey Now reported.
The record-setting game also arrived just days after a major personal milestone. Ekblad missed the Panthers’ final two games of a California road trip last week after flying back to South Florida when his wife went into labor. “Finally got home from the hospital yesterday, he was born on the fifth at night, so almost four days-four nights, whatever it was in the hospital,” Ekblad said after Friday’s practice. “It’s nice to be home and have the little guy at home, and [my] wife’s doing well. So everything is good.”
Panthers coach Paul Maurice offered a pointed assessment of what Ekblad’s longevity has meant to the franchise. “He’s a great story in the kind of transformation of this program, and it wouldn’t have happened without him and his leadership in that,” Maurice said Saturday morning. “The injuries that man has played with on three long runs in the playoffs: broken bones, separated shoulders, obliques. What he’s willing to sacrifice to play, to be great. He’s a great story in there - that may not get fully told - and he’s probably ok with that too.”
With Barkov sidelined for weeks, Ekblad’s name figures to stand alone atop Florida’s record book for the foreseeable future. The Panthers, who lead the all-time regular season series against the Buffalo Sabres 61-48-8 with four ties, travel to KeyBank Arena in Buffalo on Monday for a 1 p.m. faceoff. Florida lost to Buffalo 3-1 in their lone meeting last season.