TNT Reporter Gives Scary Details on Similar Injury as Florida Panthers Star

“It’s day-to-day, and we just keep moving forward, trying to deal with the things that come at us”. Brad Marchand’s words after the Florida Panthers have taken a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Championship round. Well, the most troubling thing the Panthers had to deal with on May 24 was injuries. One defenseman had to leave the ice in the 3rd period, and the way he got injured, it’s not pretty. In fact, one TNT reporter is having deja vu, and not the good kind. And what is he saying?

The NHL on TNT PostGame show on May 25 brought us everything interesting that happened throughout the game. Loads of goals, lots of saves, and a glimpse of the Niko Mikkola injury. The 6-foot-6 defenseman clattered shoulder-first straight against the end boards. It all happened midway through the third period, with the Panthers’ #77 chasing the puck along with the Hurricanes’ Logan Stankoven. Mikkola went over Stankoven’s leg, lost his balance, and bumped into the boards hard.

Former NHL player Anson Carter was among the TNT panelists. And he couldn’t help but talk about the incident. “I felt that cuz I destroyed my shoulder the same exact way when I was in Boston, and it doesn’t feel good.” We know Niko Mikkola felt it because even though he got up by himself after a little while, he kept holding his shoulder as he drudged off the ice. And he didn’t return for the game.

Carter kept lamenting the unfortunate incident: “You hit those boards going 100 miles an hour just like that.” And it’s gonna hurt. The former left-winger added, “I wish him well. I hope he comes back pretty quickly.” Anson Carter himself encountered a harrowing shoulder injury in 2000 when he was in Boston. How bad? The deep shoulder bruise kept him out for 7 games.

But that’s not all. He ended up needing shoulder surgery in the postseason to repair a torn rotator cuff. But was he exaggerating by saying “destroyed my shoulder”? The thing is – Anson Carter’s shoulder issues persisted throughout his career, recurring from time to time, like in 2006, when he missed 9 games due to a sprained shoulder.

For Niko Mikkola, it probably doesn’t look that bad. The Florida Panthers head coach (HC), Paul Maurice, gave an update to FloridaPanthers.com on Sunday, May 25, which was positive, although still a bit vague. “I think he’s good, but we’re going to give it another day to be sure.” Seems like Anson Carter’s blessing worked.

But there’s one more injury the Panthers are dealing with. And it’s a big one.

Florida Panthers are dealing with injury issues lately

Niko Mikkola and AJ Greer were the casualties in Game 3. Although it seems both of them will be doing fine come Game 4 on May 26. However, will Sam Reinhart become available? Yes, the star forward is the one the Panthers played without in Game 3. So what happened? In Game 2, during a power play, Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho hip-checked the Canadian center after he took the puck inside the Hurricanes’ blue line.

The result? An awkward fall and Reinhart ended up bending the left leg in the wrong way. Before Game 3, the update was a day-to-day assessment. But the Florida Panthers HC has come with more info on the Panthers 2025 top scorer. “He is not cleared, but he hasn’t been ruled out either,” Paul Maurice said to NHL.com on May 25 about the forward’s availability in Game 4.

The Panthers HC further added, “We’re still waiting on Sam Reinhart; I will have an answer for you tomorrow”. But it’s more likely that Sam Reinhart will be available for Game 4, because he was already quite ready before Game 3. “He was around the whole day and did his normal routine,” Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk said to the Miami Herald on May 25. “Like, if I wouldn’t have known, it looked like he was going to play just the way he was doing everything that he normally does on a game day.”

So, maybe it’s all sunshine on the Florida Panthers. The scores are definitely scorching for the opponents. Can anyone stop them from getting their back-to-back Stanley Cups?

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