RALEIGH -- Sam Reinhart will return for the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
The forward skated Tuesday for the first time since leaving Game 2 on May 22 when he was hit by Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho.
The Panthers were without Reinhart as well as forward A.J. Greer and defenseman Niko Mikkola, each because of an undisclosed injury, for a 3-0 loss in Game 4 on Monday that cut their best-of-7 series lead to 3-1.
Greer and Mikkola also are likely to return for Game 5, Florida coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday morning.
"We expect them all to play," Maurice said. "We didn't leave them out to rest them because we're up 3-0 and, 'Hey, let's see.' If you can play, you're playing. There's no Game 6 for us here. There's this one today. Healthy players play. If you can't be better than the guy that I'm going to put in your spot, you're not playing.
"We've got good players. We've got healthy guys that won't play. Everybody that's in the lineup will play."
Reinhart has missed the past two games, and Mikkola and Greer each missed one after being injured during the third period of a 6-2 victory in Game 3.
Jesper Boqvist replaced Reinhart on the Panthers’ top line and scored during Game 3, but Florida was limited to 20 shots on goal Monday, with Maurice replacing Boqvist with Brad Marchand by the second period.
The Panthers are 0-for-8 on the power play without Reinhart the past two games, including 0-for-4 on Monday.
Reinhart has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He led Florida during the regular season with 39 goals and 81 points and is a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded to the best defensive forward in the NHL.
“Reinhart is a big part of our power play,” Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “He is a great player, and losing him kind of hurts.”
Mikkola has five points (three goals, two assists) and is plus-6 in 15 games this postseason while averaging 19:19 of ice time. He was replaced Monday by defenseman Uvis Balinskis, who had two shots on goal in 14:34 of ice time in his first game since the second-round opener May 5, a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Nico Sturm played 7:00 in Game 4 with Greer unavailable. The forward hadn’t played since Game 2 of the second round, a 4-3 loss at Toronto on May 7.
NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen and independent correspondent George Richards contributed to this report
