Panthers Beat Stars, Aaron Ekblad Has Major Injury

The Florida Panthers defeated the Dallas Stars on Sunday night, 4-1. Florida is now two points behind the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning and one behind the second-place Carolina Hurricanes in the Central Division.

Game Recap:

Sunday night’s game started out very quickly, as three goals were scored in the first 6:26 of the game. Dallas got on the board first at 4:32 with a power-play goal by Jason Robertson, assisted by John Klingberg and Roope Hintz. 31 seconds later, Jonathan Huberdeau got an unassisted goal to tie the game. A little over a minute later, Florida got the game-clinching goal off a penalty shot by Anthony Duclair. Florida would then add a third goal before the period ended, which was a power-play goal by Jonathan Huberdeau, assisted by Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle.

In the 2nd and 3rd periods, Dallas outshot Florida 27-9. But the shots didn’t help whatsoever. Owen Tippett got the sealer, which was an empty netter at 18:55, assisted by Jonathan Huberdeau.

Injury Problems Continue:

The injury bug for the Panthers started on this road trip, and it added one more person to the list. Before Sunday night’s game, the Panthers were playing without Captain Aleksander Barkov and Patric Hornqvist.

But during Sunday’s game, potential Norris Trophy winner Aaron Ekblad went down hard. Dallas’s Esa Lindell took him into the boards on a Florida power play, and it led to him getting tangled up. Ekblad had to leave the game on an air-cast.

Joel Quenneville on the injury: “I think he was great this year, I think he had so many games where he was dominant defensively, but his offensive contribution, joining the attack down, added a different dimension to our power play, significant minutes, matchups, controlling the outcomes of games, you couldn’t ask for anything more. He’s improved. He stepped up this year in his development and has been a big factor.”

Ekblad will undergo further evaluation on Monday, at which point the extent of his injuries should be known.

“We think he’s going to be out for an extensive time,” Quenneville said.

If so, the Panthers are in trouble. Ekblad had 11 goals on the season – tied for third-most among defenders. He also had the game-winning goal on Saturday against the Stars.

Florida Panthers 4, Dallas Stars 1

Next Up

Florida will head back home to face the Detroit Red Wings for the next two games (3/20 at 7:00 PM and 4/1 at 7:00 PM).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *