Draisaitl escapes punishment for Barkov hit

Aleksander Barkov “wasn’t worse” when he arrived at the Florida Panthers’ arena Tuesday morning, his head coach said.

“That’s a really good thing,” Paul Maurice said a day after his team’s captain left and didn’t return to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers following a hit to his head delivered by Leon Draisaitl.

The Oilers centre was penalized on the play halfway through the third period of the Panthers’ 4-1 win but didn’t receive additional discipline, such as a fine or suspension, for it.

Maurice said Barkov was “looked at” on Tuesday and will be assessed again on Wednesday.

“If he continues to progress, we should be in good shape,” the coach said, adding “there’s nothing sinister” with Barkov’s injury.

“He felt better today, feels good, but you’ve got to give it another 24 hours to make sure that he feels strong,” Maurice said.

Carrick fined

Oilers forward Sam Carrick has been fined for slashing Panthers defenceman Dmitry Kulikov late in Game 2.

The NHL’s department of player safety handed Carrick a US$2,213.54 penalty (about $3,000 Canadian), the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement.

The play saw the duo battle along the boards before Carrick stuck his stick between Kulikov’s legs and appeared to pull upwards with two minutes and three seconds left in the third period.

On-ice officials gave Carrick a slashing minor and 10-minute misconduct.

Nurse injury status unclear

What’s still left to determine for the Oilers is whether defenceman Darnell Nurse will play in Thursday’s Game 3 after missing most of Game 2 following a hit from Evan Rodrigues in the first period. Nurse skated just three shifts the rest of the game.

Knoblauch told reporters Tuesday morning he had not met with the medical staff to discuss Nurse before boarding the team’s plane for the flight home from South Florida.

With files from The Canadian Press