Eetu Luostarinen helped off the ice vs. Canucks

There was no cheap shot and no penalty. It was just a bad angle, a hard wall and a guy who didn't get up right away.

Jameson Olive

@JamesonCoop

Luostarinen crashes hard into the end boards. Helped off the ice and heading down the tunnel.

That's a gut-punch for anyone who watches Florida. Luostarinen doesn't put up big numbers, but he's the kind of player the Panthers' 2 Cup runs were built on: a two-way forward who kills penalties and goes into the dirty areas without anyone asking him to. He had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 73 games last season, and GM Bill Zito called him a key piece of both titles. Florida drafted him in the 2nd round, No. 42 overall, back in 2017, and he has spent his whole career there.

For Canucks fans the play itself was the bigger question, and the Vancouver side of the beat had a fair read on it.

Thomas Drance

@ThomasDrance

Oh man, Eetu Luostarinen went awkwardly into the wall after a shoulder-to-shoulder collision with D-Pettersson. He stayed down for a bit, and is leaving the ice gingery. Good non-call on the play, but a scary result. Pettersson, notably, skated over to check in on him.

That's the right way to see it. A clean shoulder-to-shoulder hit along the boards is hockey, and the injury came from how Luostarinen hit the wall, not from anything dirty on the hit. D-Pettersson, the defenseman, not the center with the same name, skating over to check on him says a lot too. Nobody on the ice thought it was a hit meant to hurt someone, and that should take some of the heat out of any talk about revenge the next time these 2 teams meet.

The money is what makes Florida nervous. Luostarinen signed an 8-year extension on July 2 that starts in 2027-28 and carries a $5 million cap hit, so the Panthers just committed to him through 2034-35. This is the last year of his old 3-year, $9 million deal. Watching a player you just locked up for 8 more years get helped down the tunnel in October is not how anyone wants a season to start.

There was no word on his condition during the game. The main things to watch are whether Paul Maurice gives an update after the game and whether Luostarinen is on the ice for Florida's next skate. If he misses time, someone in the bottom 6 has to take over his penalty-killing minutes, and that's a hole that's a lot harder to fill than his stat line makes it look.