Florida Panthers veteran forward Brad Marchand did not play the third period of Tuesday’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs due to precautionary reasons, according to head coach Paul Maurice.
“He’s been dealing with something,” Maurice told the media following the 4-1 loss. “It just got to the point where we didn’t want to make it worse. We’re a little sensitive about injuries here now. We do our best to keep guys healthy.”
Marchand, who had 11:41 of ice time on Tuesday, took a hit from Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann in the second period.
The Halifax native was named to Canada’s Olympic roster last week.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers have dealt with numerous significant injuries this season, including captain Aleksander Barkov, who hasn’t played a game after suffering a knee injury during training camp which required surgery to repair his ACL and MCL.
Barkov, 30, has returned to light skating, but is still a long way from returning to game action as his initial recovery timeline was seven to nine months.
Forward Matthew Tkachuk is far closer to making his season debut after undergoing August surgery to to repair a torn adductor and sports hernia.
The 28-year-old could be in Florida’s lineup in the near future and is expected to suit up for Team USA during next month’s Winter Olympics in Italy.
The 37-year-old Marchand has 23 goals and 23 assists over 41 games for the Panthers this season, his 17th season in the NHL.
Florida sits fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 22-17-3 record.