OTTAWA – The blue line can’t catch a break.
The latest member of the Florida Panthers to go down, Seth Jones suffered a broken bone in his foot in the second period of Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss at Montreal.
In 52 games this season, the 31-year-old veteran had recorded 32 points (7G, 25A) while averaging a team-high 23:42 of ice time per tilt.
“He gutted it out,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “He’ll get looked at when we get back.”
Jones joins Dmitry Kulikov (finger), Aaron Ekblad (finger), Uvis Balinskis (foot) and Niko Mikkola (lower body) on Florida’s list of injured defensemen.
Of the blueliners that suited up in Game 6 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final, only Gustav Forsling remains healthy with four games left this season.
Enduring an injury-plagued campaign after winning back-to-back Cups, the Panthers will soon have more than 500 man games lost to injury.
“It’s just unbelievable what these guys have been through,” Maurice said.
When the Panthers battle the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET, they’ll have four rookie defensemen in their lineup.
Called up from the AHL this morning, Marek Alscher and Ludvig Jansson will each make their NHL debut.
“We’ve got a young backend there,” Maurice said. “We’ve got old man Forsling and the kids.”
