The hits keep coming for the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers on Friday placed defenseman Dmitry Kulikov on injured reserve, according to the NHL’s media site. The move sidelines Kulikov for at least the next week and possibly longer.
Kulikov left Florida’s 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday with 9:41 left in the second period after attempting to make a hit on Philadelphia’s Bobby Brinks on the wall at center ice. His right arm was limp and he held his wrist as he left the ice.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice did not provide an update on Kulikov during the team’s media availability early Friday afternoon, only saying he was “still getting looked at.” Maurice said he would provide a formal update after the team’s morning skate on Saturday before they hosted the Ottawa Senators (7 p.m., Scripps Sports).
But now Kulikov is the fourth Panthers player and first defenseman on IR already to start the season. Forwards Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Tomas Nosek are already sidelined as each recovers from various surgeries.
In Kulikov’s absence Thursday, Florida played with five defensemen for the final half of its game against Philadelphia. While the Flyers tied the game with 2:12 left in the second period on a Noah Cates hustle play, the Panthers shut the Flyers down in the third period. Over the final 20 minutes of regulation, Philadelphia had just five shots on goal and only 10 total shot attempts.
“Really good, especially in the last 20,” Maurice said. “I thought they were clean in what they were trying to do. All of those guys can play big minutes. They have in playoff games and they’ve played deep into overtime games. So, going to five [defensemen] isn’t a big concern.”
Added defenseman Jeff Petry, who has been Kulikov’s partner on Florida’s third defense pairing: “Anytime somebody goes down, guys have to pick. It’s not just the five guys on the back end. It’s the forwards knowing and making sure that we get back to pucks and are able to break them out. I thought everyone responded.”
Kulikov has been a fixture on Florida’s third defense pairing the past two years when the team’s blue line is at full strength. He played in 146 regular-season games the past two years with 33 points (five goals, 28 assists) and a plus-minus rating of plus-27.
With Kulikov sidelined, Uvis Balinskis will slot into his spot on the third pairing with Petry for the immediate future.
Balinskis showed last season he has what it takes to be an NHL regular. While he remained on paper as Florida’s seventh defenseman, an assortment of injuries throughout the season plus a pair of suspensions to Aaron Ekblad allowed him to play more frequently. Balinskis appeared in 76 games, including five as a fourth-line forward when both Barkov and Tkachuk were hurt early in the season, and tallied 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) while averaging about 15 minutes of ice time per game played.
He also made his postseason debut with five games during the Stanley Cup playoffs — three in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, once in the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs and once in the Eastern Conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes. He scored a goal in Game 1 against Toronto, becoming just the second Latvian player to score a goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs (also Teddy Blueger, who has two), and had a plus-minus rating of plus-4.
“I improved a lot,” Balinskis said. “I think maybe my mental game improved the most. I just have to have a clear head every game and just not think about what happened the game before or shift before. Just go out there and start over.”