The Florida Panthers hope they avoided the worst for Niko Mikkola.
The second-pair defenseman, who has been stellar for the Panthers all throughout the postseason, left midway through the third period of Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final after crashing into the boards shoulder first and in discomfort.
Mikkola’s last shift ended with 11:58 left in regulation.
“We think he’s going to be OK,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
That, for now, provides a sigh of relief considering the value Mikkola has brought to the Panthers. In addition to being stellar defensively, the 29-year-old blueliner has shown some offensive pop as of late. He scored twice on Saturday for just his second career multi-goal game — regular season or playoffs — and has five points total through 15 games this postseason.
He set single-season career highs in goals (six), assists (16) and points (22) over 76 regular-season games while having a plus-minus rating of plus-12.
“He was great today,” Panthers center Anton Lundell said. “He’s been great the whole season and the whole playoffs. He’s a different kind of player. He’s not known to score goals but he always steps up.”
The Panthers lead the best-of-7 series 3-0 and are one win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive year.
Game 4 is on Monday at 8 p.m.