Story by
Panthers’ Paul Maurice gives promising Evan Rodrigues injury update
- Story by
- Panthers’ Paul Maurice gives promising Evan Rodrigues injury update
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Panthers' Paul Maurice gives promising Evan Rodrigues injury update appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Florida Panthers are not off to a great start to their three-peat quest. Even after beating the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, they are a point out of the playoffs. The Panthers lost Evan Rodrigues to an injury on Wednesday, but Paul Maurice quelled any concerns in his postgame press conference.
Advertisement
"Maurice says lower-body injury for Rodrigues, but 'we don't think it's too significant.' Should get an update tomorrow," team reporter Jameson Coop posted on social media.
Rodrigues was a key member of the bottom six for the Panthers on both of their Stanley Cup Final runs. When it looked like they would need to make a trade for salary cap purposes this offseason, they went out of their way to keep the veteran. Even though he did not finish the game, they hope to have him back soon for the playoff push.
Rodrigues actually left the game twice, returning for the Panthers after getting hit in the face with a puck. But the lower-body injury he suffered early in the third period knocked him out for the rest of the game. That meant that Brad Marchand needed to find a new way to do his rat tradition after wins.
The Panthers have turned it up of late, jumping to ninth in the Eastern Conference from near the basement. They have done that with a 6-1-1 record in their last eight games. The Eastern Conference is tightly contested from top to bottom, with all 16 teams over NHL .500. Florida has taken advantage of the tight pack to jump back into playoff contention.
Advertisement
Another injury would be detrimental to the Panthers, however. Aleksander Barkov is out for the foreseeable future after tearing his ACL , and Matthew Tkachuk has not returned from his lower-body injuries from last season. Rodrigues will be key for the club until those forwards return.
Related: Will Panthers' Seth Jones be punished for elbowing Lightning's Brandon Hagel?
Related: ClutchPoints' NHL Power Rankings, Week 11: Are the Wild contenders with Quinn Hughes?
