Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen is week-to-week after suffering burns in a “barbecuing mishap,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said on Wednesday.
“We don’t have a lot of experience with this,” Maurice said. “Some of it’s when he comes back and feels comfortable putting the equipment on.
“He wasn’t in the hospital overnight. He did get seen by doctors in that vein.”
Eetu Luostarinen #27 of the Florida Panthers skates with the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Amerant Bank Arena on November 15, 2025 in Sunrise, Florida. NHLI via Getty Images
Luostarinen, 27, had three goals and seven assists in 18 games this season before the injury.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers have six other players out of the lineup due to injury: Aleksander Barkov (knee), Matthew Tkachuk (abductor), Dmitry Kulikov (labrum), Jonah Gadjovich (upper-body), and Cole Schwindt (arm).
Maurice explained that Florida, currently 10-8-1 on the season, is “trying to survive” right now.
“There’s an awful lot of good if you can capture, if you can learn some new things, things that you have to learn to survive,” he said. “And that’s really in some ways what we’re doing, is trying to survive.
Eetu Luostarinen #27 of the Florida Panthers arrives for the game against the Washington Capitals at the Amerant Bank Arena on November 13, 2025 in Sunrise, Florida. NHLI via Getty Images
“When you get to seven guys out of your lineup, you’ve got a problem. We can survive that and then learn through the adversity of it eventually.
“We’re going to have, slightly after the trade deadline, the biggest movement in the league. We’re going to get some players back. We can be a better team than we were going into the playoffs last year, if we can learn how to do this.
“It’s just going to be hard. It’s going to be uncomfortable right now. And we’ve got to be good with that.”
The Panthers play host to the Devils (13-5-1) on Thursday.