The Florida Panthers suffered potentially critical injury setbacks when Matthew Tkachuk and Gustav Forsling left their game against the Carolina Hurricanes injured.
During the first period of the contest between Eastern Conference powerhouses, Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov caught Tkachuk with a heavy check that sandwiched him between the big Russian and defenseman Jaccob Slavin. The Panthers star clutched his ribs after the collision and before exiting the contest.
Tkachuk was on a six-game point streak that brought his points total to 65 over 56 games played despite a slow start to the season. The winger spent his offseason recovering from the various upper-body ailments he sustained during the Cats’ unlikely run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.
As if losing one of their most impactful skaters was not bad enough, Gustav Forsling, the NHL’s leader in rating (+39) who forms Florida’s top pair alongside Aaron Ekblad, also left the game with an undisclosed injury.
The 27-year-old Swede is second on the Panthers to only Brandon Montour in average ice time and has emerged as a key all-situations blue liner since arriving in South Florida via waivers from, ironically, the Hurricanes; aside from his contributions on the penalty kill, Forsling has scored 105 points in 208 games for Florida.
Panthers fans will eagerly await an update on the duo; both have been indispensable to their pursuit of the Boston Bruins atop the Atlantic Division. The result of that race could prove the difference between the top seed in the East and a far less desirable matchup against the high-powered attack of the Toronto Maple Leafs, entrenched in third place.
Florida’s injury frustrations have been telling on the ice, where they failed to solve Pyotr Kochetkov and the vaunted Canes’ defense. The Panthers lost 1-0 in a tense matchup. They hope to reverse course when they host the Washington Capitals on Saturday and, perhaps more importantly, that Tkachuk and Forsling are whole in time for that game.
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