Florida Panthers Could Get Top Defenseman Back Tonight

The Florida Panthers could have defenseman Aaron Ekblad back in the lineup tonight against the San Jose Sharks, coach Paul Maurice said.

Ekblad has missed eight games, including the past seven, after blocking a shot against the Penguins in the first period on Jan. 3.

Maurice said it is an upper-body injury but has not commented further.

According to Jameson Olive of FloridaPanthers.com, Ekblad was back on the top defensive pairing with Gus Forsling. He was also running the top power play unit.

For The Best Daily Coverage Of The Florida Panthers

The Panthers have missed Ekblad.

“He touches all three phases of our games,” Maurice said. “He plays important minutes in all of those. We have missed him. We had Mikkola out at the start of January, and then Aaron was out. We have missed the big man back on our blueline clearing out the netfront. And we have up two up front last game.

“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow, and there is a chance he plays tomorrow.”

The Panthers are coming off a 2-1 loss in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, and go for their 12th straight win against the Sharks tonight.