SUNRISE - The Florida Panthers received encouraging news on Brad Marchand’s left knee injury, sustained Tuesday in Los Angeles when he was taken down on his way to the net and crashed into the boards, according to multiple national reports including from Tim Reynolds of the AP.
Marchand had to be helped off the ice by teammates Niko Mikkola and Brady Tkachuk without putting any weight on his left leg, raising immediate concern about the severity of the injury. The Panthers now hope he will be out only a few weeks.
The update on Marchand follows similarly positive news on captain Sasha Barkov, who was hurt last Thursday in San Jose and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. Barkov spoke publicly about his injury before being presented the Key to the City of Boca Raton at a ceremony at Boca Ice near FAU.
“I feel good. I got good news,” Barkov said. “I have good team behind me, so I’m very confident. I’ll be back soon, as soon as possible. And obviously, it’s not the not the thing you want to have, especially after what I went through last year. But it is what it is. … Can’t wait to get started to rehab it.”
Coach Paul Maurice was expected to update Marchand’s status after practice in Fort Lauderdale. The Panthers host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise in their home opener, Game No. 5 of the season. Minnesota leads the all-time regular season series 22-10-3 with one tie, and the teams split their two meetings last season at 1-1. Florida’s next road game follows Monday at the Buffalo Sabres at 1 p.m.