MONTREAL – It’s a bad time to be a finger if you play for the Florida Panthers.
Already playing with a broken nose, Dmitry Kulikov suffered a broken finger in Tuesday’s loss to Montreal.
The veteran defenseman suffered the injury in the third period and did not return.
“He’s going to be out,” head coach Paul Maurice said.
An important veteran on the blue line during Florida’s back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup in 2024 and 2025, Kulikov, who’s been limited to just 19 games this season after initially suffering an upper-body injury on Oct. 9, has recorded 247 points (50G, 197A) in 1,037 career games.
Kulikov is also the third Panther in the last few weeks to have his season ended by a broken finger.
Evan Rodrigues suffered a broken finger on March 26, while Aaron Ekblad broke a finger on March 31.
“It’s the standard injury here now,” Maurice said.
With four games left in the regular season, the Panthers have had nearly 500 man games lost due to injury thus far.
“It’s just unbelievable what these guys have been through,” Maurice said.
With Kulikov’s season over, the Panthers will need to recall a defenseman from the AHL.
Loaned to the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday, Mikulas Hovorka could possibly be coming right back up.
In three games this season, the 24-year-old rookie has recorded one blocked shot and three hits.
With the Panthers set to visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, a decision should be made before then.
Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com for updates.
