FORT LAUDERDALE — The Panthers have been dogged by injuries all season. Captain Aleksander Barkov has been out for the whole season with a knee injury, and other key players such as Matthew Tkachuk, Dmitry Kulikov and Seth Jones have missed significant amounts of time.

But as the Panthers, who are currently playoff longshots, enter the final month and a half of the season, they should get some reinforcements. Some of those important players are close to returning, and all but Barkov will travel with the team as they embark on a four-game trip that begins after Friday night’s game against Buffalo.

“We’ll bring everybody on our road trip coming up with the exception of Barkov,” Maurice said Thursday morning. “And we’re bringing them because there’s a chance that they may play at some point on that road trip.”

Kulikov, who has played just two games this year, and center Tomas Nosek, who has been out all season, have returned to practice in regular jerseys.

“They’re not far off,” Maurice said Wednesday.

Jones, who has not played since Jan. 2, is practicing in a non-contact jersey.

“He had been off for so long, you almost forget about him and what he can do,” Maurice said Tuesday. “And then he steps back into practice and say, ‘Man, we’ve missed that guy.”

Bobrovsky’s strong night

Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky did not look rusty after weeks off for the Olympics.

The veteran goalie had one of his best games of the season, saving 28 of 29 shots (a .966 save percentage —his highest percentage in a non-shutout) in a 5-1 win over Toronto on Thursday. The sole goal he allowed came when Florida already had a 3-0 lead.

“He certainly had some big saves that he had to make, and he did,” Maurice said.

Bobrovsky said the Olympic break was a good time for him to get in rest while mixing in some training to stay sharp.

“It was a good time for (a) break, just to get rest, and a good time for practicing and for training,” Bobrovsky said. “So that’s also with the heavy schedule, sometimes it’s tough to do.”

Tkachuk’s missing stuffed animal

One of the stars of the Winter Olympics was not an athlete, it was a plush toy version of a cute member of the weasel family. Medal winners at the Milano Cortina games each received a stuffed version of the Olympic mascot, Tina the Stoat.

Tkachuk, an assistant captain for the gold-winning American men’s hockey team, said the team’s stuffed toys were quickly taken away — for the toys’ own protection during the team’s celebration. He said he will have to ask for it back soon.

“They took it away from us immediately, knowing we would probably lose it or trade it in for a beer or like whatever we were going to do with it,” Tkachuk said Thursday. ” … I’ll ask for mine because it’ll be cool for the kids one day.”