Barkov suffers lower-body injury in Panthers' Game 3 win

Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov exited with a lower-body injury in the first period of his team's 1-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final and did not return.

Barkov missed the last seven minutes of the first frame of Monday's contest after taking a hit from Hurricanes forward Jack Drury. He didn't come out for the start of the second period.

Aleksander Barkov spent the end of the period in the locker room after this contact at the boards#TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/lQdBWnHT8v

- Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) May 23, 2023

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice offered no update on Barkov's status after the victory but didn't seem overly concerned.

"He's at a bar mitzvah," Maurice said, according to The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. "His neighbor had a bar mitzvah, and he didn't want to disappoint the kids."

Eetu Luostarinen took Barkov's place centering Florida's top line, while Ryan Lomberg replaced Luostarinen on the left wing of the third line.

Barkov, 27, entered Monday with four goals and eight assists in 14 postseason contests. The former Selke Trophy winner finished second among Panthers skaters with 78 points in 68 regular-season games.

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