Sam Reinhart will not play for the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.
The 29-year-old forward suffered a lower-body injury in the first period of Game 2. He appeared to favour his left leg after an open-ice hip check from Hurricanes centre Sebastian Aho. Reinhart returned briefly for a short shift but missed the rest of the game.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Reinhart is day to day and will be replaced by Jesper Boqvist. Florida leads the series 2-0 after winning the first two games in Carolina.
“It’s a player that touches all parts of your game, a critical part of our power play, Barkov and Reinhart are elite at penalty killing, and he draws the heavy fire and pulls the best defensemen from the other team,” Maurice said.
“So, it’s a significant player out of our line up for sure. We’ve had other important players miss games, Barkov, Bennett, and Ekblad have all missed time this postseason, so we have to survive it.”
Reinhart has 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) in 14 playoff games. He led the Panthers with 39 goals and 81 points in 79 regular-season games and finished second with 42 assists.
Last season, he had 16 points in 24 playoff games to help Florida win the Stanley Cup, after setting career highs with 57 goals and 94 points.
Maurice remains confident the Panthers can cope without Reinhart.
“You can’t have one guy go down and not still have a chance, or you don’t have the depth that you think,” Maurice said. “That said, losing a 57-goal scorer is tough. Nobody has that kind of depth.”
Jesper Boqvist, a healthy scratch the last three games, has two points in nine playoff games and 23 points in 78 regular-season games. He will slot into Reinhart’s spot on the top line alongside Evan Rodrigues and Aleksander Barkov.
Boqvist previously played with Barkov and Reinhart when Rodrigues was injured during the second round against Toronto. He contributed a goal and assist in a 6-1 Game 5 victory.
“Obviously, I haven’t played in a bit, so I’ll try to get my legs moving and keep it simple,” Boqvist said. “I’ll try to build on those games. It should be fun.”
Maurice noted Boqvist’s familiarity with Barkov will help ease the transition.
“The injury to Rodrigues turned out to be a benefit because Boqvist played with Barkov then,” Maurice said. “He slides in with a centre he knows, so there’s no time lost in chemistry or figuring out roles. They just play.”
Boqvist said he’s excited to play with Barkov again.
“Probably one of the best players in the world, so it’s easy. It’s a lot of fun too, which is the most important thing.”
Photo: Claus Andersen/Getty Images
