FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Sam Reinhart is out for the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC) because of a lower-body injury.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said the forward is day to day, replaced in Game 3 by Jesper Boqvist. Florida will try to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 series without Reinhart after winning the first two games at Carolina.
“It’s a player that touches all parts of your game, a critical part of our power play, (Aleksander) Barkov and Reinhart are elite at penalty killing, and he draws the heavy fire and pulls the best set of (defensemen) from the other team,” Maurice said. “So, it’s a significant player out of our lineup, for sure, and we have gone through other significant (players missing games).
“Barkov and (Sam) Bennett and (Aaron) Ekblad have all missed important times in the playoffs, so you have to be able to survive it.”
Reinhart was injured in the first period of Florida’s 5-0 victory in Game 2 on Thursday. The 29-year-old appeared to be favoring his left leg or hip after being knocked to the ice by an open-ice hip check from Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho while carrying the puck into the offensive zone on the power play at 14:49.
He returned to play one 12-second shift later in the first before missing the rest of the game.
Reinhart has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He led the Panthers with 39 goals and 81 points and finished second on the team with 42 assists in 79 regular-season games.
He had 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in 24 playoff games last season to help Florida win the Stanley Cup after he set NHL career highs with 57 goals and 94 points in 82 games during the regular season.
Maurice believes the Panthers can get by without Reinhart, though.
“You can’t have one guy go down and not still have a chance, or you don’t have the depth that you think,” Maurice said. “That being said, there’s a 57-goal scorer out of our lineup. Nobody has that kind of depth.”
Boqvist, a healthy scratch the past three games, has two points (one goal, one assist) in nine playoff games after getting 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) 78 regular-season games. The 26-year-old slots into Reinhart’s place at right wing on the top line with Evan Rodrigues and Barkov.
He played with Barkov and Reinhart when Rodrigues missed Games 5 and 6 of the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs with an undisclosed injury and had a goal and an assist in a 6-1 win in Game 5.
“Obviously, I haven’t played in a couple here, so I’ll try to get my legs moving as soon as possible and keep it simple and all that,” Boqvist said. “I’ll just try to build on those couple of games. So, it should be fun.”
Maurice thinks Boqvist’s previous experience playing with Barkov should help him fit in on the top line.
“The injury to Rodrigues then turns out to be a benefit at some point because he came in and played with Barkov,” Maurice said. “So, he slides in with a centerman that he’s going to play with and he’s played with that guy before. So, there’s not a lot of time or concern; they don’t have to spend a half hour of their day together deciding what they’re doing in different situations. There’s a familiarity there that lets those guys just go and play.”
Boqvist said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to play with Barkov again. Barkov has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 14 games this postseason while averaging 19:25 of ice time.
“Probably one of the best players the world, so, obviously, it’s so easy,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun too. It’s probably the most important thing to have fun too.”
