SAN JOSE - Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov left Thursday’s game against the San Jose Sharks in the second period with an apparent left knee injury, a gut-punch development for a franchise whose star center missed all of last season recovering from reconstructive surgery on his right knee.
Barkov’s left knee buckled as he battled for the puck in the corner against Darnell Nurse and Zach Ostapchuk. He pushed open the entry door to the rink immediately and limped down the tunnel, tossing his gloves to the ground in visible frustration. Florida was trailing 2-0 at the time, according to Florida Hockey Now, which first reported the injury.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said Barkov would get looked at Friday afternoon, offering no further details on the severity.
The injury overshadowed a gutsy Florida comeback that ultimately fell short. San Jose extended its lead to 3-0 before Eetu Luostarinen scored Florida’s first power-play goal of the season - the team had gone 0-for-12 previously - with 2:50 left in the second period. The Panthers then scored twice in 17 seconds early in the third: Luostarinen inadvertently knocked in a Dmitry Kulikov shot to make it 3-2, and Matthew Tkachuk tied it moments later.
With the score knotted at three, Niko Mikkola took a roughing penalty with 17.9 seconds remaining, forcing Florida’s penalty kill into a 4-on-3 overtime situation. The kill unit, which went 6-for-6 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the opener and finished 3-of-4 Thursday for a 9-for-10 mark on the season, held. But Will Smith, who scored twice in the second period, delivered the winner with 1:46 left in overtime, feeding Luca Cagnoni for the 4-3 final. Macklin Celebrini also factored prominently for San Jose.
Florida falls to 1-0-1 on the young season but earned one point. Defenseman Gus Forsling was also absent, a late scratch after taking warmups; Uvis Balinskis played in his place.
Mason Marchment, who spent parts of two seasons with the Panthers from 2021-22, scored his first goal with San Jose. He and his late father, Bryan, became the second father-son duo to score a goal for the Sharks, joining Ulf and Jonathan Dahlen.
The Panthers, who lead the all-time regular-season series against Anaheim 23-17-2 with three ties, face the Ducks at Honda Center in Anaheim on Sunday at 8 p.m. Florida’s next game after that is Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings.