Panthers’ Brad Marchand Helped Off Ice With Scary Injury Days After Return

LOS ANGELES — Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand sustained a left leg injury in the second period of their 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

Marchand was not on the bench for the third period, and coach Paul Maurice did not have an update on his condition afterward.

“We’ll get him looked at probably Thursday,” Maurice said.

Marchand was hurt after taking a stick to the face from Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke with 52.6 seconds remaining, which caused him to twist around and collide with the right post before his left leg bent back in an awkward way.

Marchand was down on the ice for several minutes being examined by an athletic trainer before teammates Brady Tkachuk and Niko Mikkola helped him to the bench, with Marchand unable to put any weight on his leg. He was then helped back to the dressing room.

Marchand was in his second game back after missing the entire preseason and the first two games of the regular season while recovering from sports hernia surgery.

Marchand, 38, is in his third season with the Panthers after playing his first 16 seasons with the Boston Bruins. He was traded to Florida in March 2025 and helped them win their second straight Stanley Cup that season.

He has been involved in a number of controversies throughout his career — throwing helmets, licking opponents, questionable hits — that have led to suspensions and fines.

But the defense of those titles last season was scuttled by injuries, and now the Panthers have seen two key players injured on their four-game West Coast trip to start this season.

Aleksander Barkov, one of the top two-way centers in hockey, hurt his left leg in an overtime loss at San Jose on Thursday. Maurice said earlier Tuesday that Barkov is expected to miss six to eight weeks and will not require surgery.

“I mean, we have a little experience with Sasha going down, so it wasn’t quite as shocking the second time it happened,” Maurice said. “We know we have good depth. And there’s a threshold for any team, a number of injuries you just can’t survive, and we passed that early last year. So, real good resolve here. The tank is deep right now. We had a big summer off, so we’re strong.”

Clarke received a four-minute double-minor penalty. It was the second penalty of the game for Clarke, who was called for interference against Eetu Luostarinen earlier in the period. Luostarinen was shaken up on a cross-check from Clarke, sustaining a stinger, but was able to return to the game.