NOTEBOOK: Updates on Duclair, Verhaeghe and more!

SUNRISE, Fla. -- After playing three games in four days, the Florida Panthers finally had a chance to catch their breath and take stock of their current injury situation on Wednesday.
Already without Carter Verhaeghe (illness), Spencer Knight (illness), Anton Lundell (upper body), Patric Hornqvist (upper body) and Radko Gudas (upper body), Colin White and Chris Tierney suffered upper-body injuries in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
"We lost a guy on the second shift and then a guy on the first shift of the second period to get down to 10 [forwards] again," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "Boy, we've done that three or four times this year. But they tightened their game right up and earned [the win]."

As far as the two most-recent additions to the injury list, Maurice said that Tierney is going through the NHL's concussion protocol, while White is "day to day, but may be longer."
Verhaeghe, who's scored a team-leading 15 goals, is feeling better after sitting out the win over the Blue Jackets and could possibly return in time to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
Sidelined for the last six games, Lundell is no longer dealing with an illness, but is still recovering from the initial upper-body injury he suffered against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 1. Maurice said that Lundell, who has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 24 games, is "more than day to day."
Participating in this morning's optional practice at FLA Live Arena, Gudas appears to be on track to return to the lineup sooner rather than later, while Hornqvist still remains on LTIR.
"A real good sign for him coming out of the [concussion] protocol," Maurice said of Gudas.
Maurice said that Knight, who owns an 8-4-3 record and last manned the crease on Dec. 6 against the Winnipeg Jets, is "back to full go," a statement supported by the fact the Panthers sent third-string goalie Alex Lyon back to the AHL this afternoon.
In addition to the team's recent injuries and ailments, Maurice also provided an update on Anthony Duclair.
Yet to suit up this season after undergoing successful surgery to repair an Achilles tendon injury back in July, Duclair skated for the first time on Tuesday. While there's still no exact timetable for his return to action, those first steps back on the ice signal a major milestone in his long recovery.
"There really isn't much coming back early on this one," Maurice said of Duclair, who scored a career-high 31 goals in 2021-22. "He's got to get trained again and then he's going to have to get back into hockey shape. But he's on the mend. I don't know exactly when it's going to be, but we're talking about weeks. We're no longer talking about months."
Maurice said he expects Duclair to ramp up to "more intense skating" in the next two weeks.

SPREADING HOLIDAY CHEER

The Panthers spread some holiday cheer around South Florida this afternoon.
Splitting up into groups, players visited five healthcare facilities throughout the community. Wearing Santa hats and their Reverse Retro jerseys, they spent time chatting and getting to know hospital patients, veterans, people with disabilities and many others during their visits.
"It's a great opportunity to visit the kids and put smiles on their faces," said goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who visited ARC Broward in Sunrise. "It makes you appreciate how big of a job the Florida Panthers Foundation does helping and supporting these kids. It was a great day."
Back in the net after a 22-save shutout against the Blue Jackets less than 24 hours earlier, Bobrovsky had some of his most fun playing goalie in a soccer game with some of the kids.
"It was great," Bobrovsky laughed. "It's always fun to play with the kids."
Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com for more photos and videos from these special visits in the coming days and weeks.