FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Sam Reinhart was ruled out by the Florida Panthers for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday, the second consecutive game he has missed since getting hurt earlier in the series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Also out for Florida: Niko Mikkola, who scored two goals in Game 3, and A.J. Greer. All are listed as day to day, coach Paul Maurice said.
Florida leads the series 3-0, with a chance to clinch on Monday. If Carolina wins, Game 5 will be Wednesday in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Reinhart left Thursday’s Game 2 in the first period after a low hit by Carolina’s Sebastian Aho. The Panthers aren’t concerned at this point that it’ll be a long-term absence.
“I would expect, hopefully at some point in this series, they’ll be able to come back in and play,” Maurice said. “The determination is … the three guys I put in will perform better than those men would tonight.”
Jesper Boqvist, who scored the first goal of Florida’s five-goal third-period onslaught Saturday, remains in for Reinhart. Nico Sturm and Uvis Balinskis will be in for Greer and Mikkola, respectively.
Reinhart scored the winning goal in Game 7 of last season’s Stanley Cup Final for the Panthers, the capper of a 67-goal season including playoffs, and has more goals — by far — than anyone else on the Florida roster since joining the club four years ago.
Reinhart’s 43 goals this season, including playoffs, leads the team.
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