The Florida Panthers just got defenseman Seth Jones back from injury. Now, it appears they have lost his partner.
Niko Mikkola was knocked out of Florida’s 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Friday night after colliding with Ryan Strome in the third period.
Mikkola went down to the ice clutching his left knee. After getting up, he did not put any weight on the leg as he was helped off the ice and to the dressing room.
Coach Paul Maurice said postgame that Mikkola “was getting looked at right now,’’ and that he would be further evaluated once the team arrives back in South Florida sometime Saturday or Sunday.
But it certainly does not look good.
“He has been a dominant man all year for us with all of the injuries we have had,’’ Maurice said.
“We’re going to miss him. He’s going to miss some time, I believe.’’
The Panthers have lost one key player after another throughout the season.
After Friday’s loss, the Panthers have seven players on the shelf with a total of 407 games missed due to injury — and that does not include Anton Lundell and Mackie Samoskevich whom Maurice said before the game had been nicked up in Thursday’s victory in Edmonton.
Florida knew it would start the season without Tomas Nosek and Matthew Tkachuk due to offseason surgery, but then captain Sasha Barkov blew out his right knee on his first day of training camp and the injuries just kept piling up.
Aside from Barkov, Tkachuk, and Nosek, the Panthers have also been without Dmitry Kulikov, Jonah Gadjovich, Cole Schwindt, Jones, and Brad Marchand for substantial amounts of time.
Sam Reinhart missed the four-game road trip with an undisclosed injury as well.
“That’s tough, especially with all the injuries we have seen on our team this year,’’ Sam Bennett said when asked about Mikkola.
“You never want to see anyone go down.”
ON DECK: GAME No. 70
SEATTLE KRAKEN at FLORIDA PANTHERS
