Sam Bennett was not able to play for the Florida Panthers on Tuesday due to an upper-body injury, but the team doesn’t expect him to be out for long.
Bennett, who is the Panthers’ second-leading scorer this season, was scratched from the lineup for the game against the New Jersey Devils, which the Panthers lost 4-1, ending their seven-game winning streak.
It’s unclear exactly when Bennett got injured, and Panthers coach Paul Maurice said that there were no expected lineup changes for the game, except for Spencer Knight starting in goal instead of Sergei Bobrovsky. Bennett wasn’t part of the morning skate on Tuesday because he felt something “tighten up,” and the issue didn’t improve during the day.
“We don’t even know if it’ll keep him out of another game,” Maurice said. “He may come back in (Wednesday) and be 100% fine. And if not, it wouldn’t be a long-term situation.”
Mackie Samoskevich filled in for Bennett in the forward lines on Tuesday.
Bennett had scored nine goals and added six assists in Florida’s first 15 games, ranking second on the team in points behind only Sam Reinhart. This is his best start to a season, surpassing his previous best of 10 points through 15 games two seasons ago.
In his 11th NHL season, Bennett has totaled 300 career points — 146 goals and 154 assists — in 630 games with Calgary and Florida. He also contributed seven goals and seven assists during Florida’s run to the Stanley Cup final last season.
The Panthers will play New Jersey again on Thursday night and host Winnipeg on Saturday.
