With Barkov still out, a look at who the Panthers have relied on to fill his void

The Florida Panthers continue to be without their captain as they reach the midway point of their five-game road trip.

Panthers captain and star center Aleksander Barkov remains away from the team as he deals with a non-COVID illness. He will miss his fourth consecutive game and the fifth time in the past eight games on Thursday against Vancouver Canucks.

The Panthers are 0-2-2 in the four games they have played without Barkov entering Thursday, losing in regulation against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 17 and Calgary Flames on Tuesday in addition to overtime losses to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

“He’s feeling better. That’s the first kind of real turn,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice told reporters Thursday in Vancouver. “We’ll start to look at getting him some workouts. He may be able to get back on the ice in the next day or two. … It feels like we’re trending in the right direction.”

And in Barkov’s absence, four players in specific have seen roles either increase or change as Maurice tries to fill the void of playing without his team’s top player.

The quartet:

▪ Sam Bennett: He has centered the Panthers’ top line in Barkov’s absence, with Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk on his wings. Bennett’s average ice time in the four games Barkov has missed is 19:47, nearly two minutes more per game than his other 19 games this season. Four of his eight games with the most ice time logged have come with Barkov out.

▪ Anton Lundell: The second-year center has moved up to the second line without Barkov, and his ice time has shown. Three of Lundell’s five games with more than 19 minutes on ice are without Barkov, including his 21:42 against Dallas on Nov. 17 and 21:36 against St. Louis on Saturday — the only two games in Lundell’s career in which he played more than 20 minutes. Lundell’s scoring production has ticked up lately, too. He is on a four-game point streak, scoring three goals and logging an assist in that span.

▪ Eetu Luostarinen: The 24-year-old forward has moved back to center in games without Barkov after playing primarily on the wing this season. Maruice trusts Luostarinen’s two-way abilities, helping set up plays on offense and being responsible defensively.

▪ Aleksi Heponiemi: The 23-year-old forward draw into the lineup for a third consecutive game and fifth time this season. Maurice liked what he saw from Heponiemi during training camp, but the Panthers are pushed up against the NHL’s salary cap, so his only time at the NHL level so far this season have come following injuries as a league-allowed emergency replacement after Florida dipped below 20 skaters in a game.

Ekblad milestones

Star Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who enters Thursday on a five-game point streak, has hit three career milestones during his past four games.

His empty-net goal on Nov. 23 against the Boston Bruins was the 100th of his NHL career. After scoring another goal against the Blues on Saturday and logging an assist Monday against Edmonton, Ekblad reached 300 career points. Finally, he logged his 200th career assist Tuesday against Calgary.

Ekblad’s 101 goals and 300 points are the most in Panthers history among defensemen. His 200 assists rank third among blue liners in franchise history, behind only Rober Svehla (229) and Keith Yandle (201).