Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov leaves game with injury after big hit

TAMPA — Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov left Thursday’s win over the Lightning after taking a big hit from Brandon Hagel, and he did not return before the end of the game.

Florida coach Paul Maurice did not provide an update on the star center’s status after the game.

Barkov played 15:41 in the victory and recorded an assist on Nate Schmidt’s goal in the first period.

Barkov suffered an upper-body injury earlier this month, which kept him out of a pair of games. He returned before the regular season ended.

Forward Sam Bennett offered an encouraging thought after the game.

“It’s tough to lose him,” Bennett said in a postgame TV interview. “He does everything for this squad. We care about him a lot. He’s a tough guy, so I’m sure he’ll be fine. But you hate to see that.”

Barkov, who anchors Florida’s top line, had 20 goals and 51 assists during the regular season. He has three assists in the postseason.

“He means everything (to the team),” Panthers center Anton Lundell said. “He’s our captain, our leader, you know, so obviously, we never want to have him out of the lineup. But at the same time, we’ve got to be able to step up. Everybody, not just me, the whole team. He’s been carrying us a lot during the whole season. So we all owe him that, to step up and make sure that a job is taken care of.”

Brandon Hagel has been given a 5-minute major for this hit on Aleksander Barkov pic.twitter.com/xn6RQcTqS2

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 25, 2025