Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will miss 2-3 weeks with a lower-body injury

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will miss two to three weeks with a lower-body injury, coach Paul Maurice said Saturday.

Maurice said he’s optimistic Barkov will return in time for — if not sooner than — the Panthers’ two NHL Global Series games against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 1- 2, which are being held in the center’s hometown of Tampere, Finland.

“It may take that amount of time, but we think he should be in that window,” Maurice said following the Panthers’ morning skate before their game at Buffalo.

Barkov was hurt with 70 seconds left in a 3-1 loss at Ottawa on Thursday, when he was attempting to prevent Tim Stutzle from scoring an empty-net goal. He and the Senators forward got tangled up, with Barkov crashing feet first into the end boards.

Grimacing in pain, Barkov needed about a minute before he could get to his feet, and then he required help from teammates Evan Rodrigues and Uvis Balinskis to get off the ice.

Maurice also said Saturday that forward Matthew Tkachuk would not play against Buffalo because of an illness.

Defenseman Adam Boqvist is scheduled to return after missing one game. He will be wearing protective head gear after being struck in the face by a puck in the defending Stanley Cup champion’s season-opening 6-4 win over Boston on Tuesday.