Florida Panthers veteran Brad Marchand is expected to miss six weeks with the lower-body injury he sustained earlier this week, head coach Paul Maurice announced Friday.
Maurice added that the plan is for Marchand to resume skating in three weeks as he works his way back.
Marchand’s injury occurred late in the second period of Florida’s 2-1 win Tuesday when Marchand collided with Los Angeles Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke while driving to the Kings’ net and Clarke’s stick came into contact with Marchand’s face. Marchand also collided with teammate Brady Tkachuk and crashed into the boards.
Marchand was on the ice grabbing his left knee and needed assistance from teammates to get to the bench.
Losing the forward is another blow to a Panthers team that is also without captain Aleksander Barkov, who was given a timeline of six-to-eight weeks on Tuesday for his knee injury.
“I promise I’ll be back in the Panthers’ uniform very soon,” Barkov said Thursday, speaking publicly for the first time since getting hurt.
Seeing both Barkov and Marchand back on the ice before December may be close to a best-case scenario for the Panthers, who were holding their breath after the two injuries. Barkov missed all of last season following knee surgery for an injury suffered in training camp.
“Last year was tough, so my first thought was, ‘Do I have to go through that again? I just started playing, just starting to be with the team and did this happen again?’” Barkov said. “But then, obviously, really good news came pretty soon after that. Knowing I have a good team behind me — doctors, physios — they’re going to take good care of me.”
The 38-year-old Marchand was playing in only his second game of the season after he returned to action on Sunday. Marchand missed the entire pre-season and the first two regular-season games while recovering from off-season surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Marchand recorded a goal in his return on Sunday during the Panthers’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks and registered 27 goals and 54 points in 52 games last season, which was mired by injuries.
Drafted 71st overall by the Boston Bruins in 2006, Marchand has 452 goals and 1,035 points in 1,153 career games split between the Bruins and Panthers.