Panthers center out one week with upper-body injury

Even though the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime of Game 2 Tuesday night, the team still received some unfortunate news on the injury front. 

During the second period of Tuesday’s game, Panthers forward Sam Bennett left the ice holding his wrist, and would not return for the remainder of the game.

Although there was no official update from the team Tuesday night, Andy Slater of Fox Sports reports that Bennett is set to miss a ’lengthy period of time’. 

Later on, the Panthers gave an official update, indicating that Bennett should only be out of the lineup for one week, which could eliminate him for the rest of the series against Tampa Bay.

Since coming over to the Panthers organization during the 2020-21 NHL season, there has always been quite a bit of injury concern attached to Bennett. In his three full seasons with Florida, Bennett has missed a total of 43 games due to several different injuries.

Last year, toward the end of the regular season, Bennett was kept out of the lineup for nearly a month with an undisclosed injury but was able to return for Game 1 of the team’s opening-round matchup against the Boston Bruins. 

Helping the team reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in franchise history, Bennett performed exceptionally well for the Panthers, scoring five goals and 15 points in 20 postseason games.

For Game 3 and on, the team will have some roster management to take care of, as Bennett’s absence leaves a sizeable hole down the middle of the team’s second line. 

The team will likely move forward Anton Lundell into the top six, as he scored 13 goals and 35 points over 78 games this season while already tallying an assist in this year’s playoffs.