FORT LAUDERDALE – The Florida Panthers are no strangers to adversity.

But this latest test is tougher than most.

The beating heart of the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, captain Aleksander Barkov underwent surgery to repair a knee injury, head coach Paul Maurice announced on Friday.

At the time of this writing, there’s still no full timetable for his recovery.

“There’s no hiding it - that’s the big man,” Maurice said. “He’s such an important place in that locker room. What we’re going to get to experience now is you’ll get to know some of the other leaders that we have in our room. We’ll get to see other players. At the end of the day, I know there’s the idea of next man up, I get all that, but there’s not a next man for his skates.”

The injury occurred on Thursday during the fir

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