Panthers' Reinhart, Mikkola, Greer return in closeout victory over Hurricanes in Eastern final
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola and A.J. Greer returned to Florida's lineup Wednesday night in a 5-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes that sent the Panthers back to a third straight Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers lost forward Eetu Luostarinen in the first period of this Eastern Conference final game, though coach Paul Maurice said afterward he expected him to be fine with time off coming before a Cup series against the Edmonton-Dallas winner.
Reinhart, Mikkola and Greer had missed Game 4 with injuries, a shutout loss Monday night at home that allowed the Hurricanes to avert a sweep and extend the season.
Reinhart saw 21:08 of ice time in this one and tallied two third-period assists. Mikkola saw 19:44 of ice time, though his giveaway in the neutral zone led to Carolina's Sebastian Aho scoring a second time in the opening period. Greer played 4:22.
Reinhart left Thursday's Game 2 in the first period
after a low hit
by Carolina's Sebastian Aho. Greer appeared to injure himself delivering a hit on Jordan Staal in Game 3, while Mikkola was shaken up after crashing hard into the boards — his right shoulder hitting first — that same night.
As for Luostarinen, he appeared to be shaken up while trying to deliver a hit on Carolina's Mark Jankowski. He crashed into the boards and fell to the ice, then stumbled as he got back up and came to the bench.
The team ruled him out for the game by the start of the second period.
As for the Hurricanes, they again played without two of their top six defensemen in Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker. Chatfield hadn't played since Game 4 of the second-round series against conference top seed Washington, missing five straight games with an apparent lower-body injury.
Walker has missed the past two games since taking a jarring. open-ice hit from Greer in Game 2.
Coach Rod Brind'Amour was unsure whether either could be an option for this series even if the Hurricanes somehow pushed it far enough.
'I was hopeful Chatfield being more day to day, but he just still hasn't got in there with us,' Brind'Amour said before the game. 'Until he's out there I guess practicing with us, he's not an option. Walker, same thing.'
The blue-liner injuries had led Carolina to force top prospect Alexander Nikishin into the lineup. His first three NHL games have all come in the postseason, on the road, and he tallied his first NHL point with a terrific pass that sprung Logan Stankoven for Monday's first goal.
Nikishin made his home debut Wednesday, logging 15:36 of ice time.
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