Panthers' Aleksander Barkov skates in step toward return

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers may get injured captain Aleksander Barkov back a bit quicker than expected. If nothing else, he is still on track to play when the Stanley Cup champions go to his native Finland for a pair of games next month.

Barkov skated Thursday for the first time since leaving a game at Ottawa on Oct. 10 with a lower-body injury. If all goes well, he could return to the Panthers' lineup sometime on their upcoming road trip that includes an Oct. 24 game at the New York Rangers , an Oct. 26 game at the New York Islanders and an Oct. 28 game at the Buffalo Sabres .

The key, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, is for Barkov to get through a week of hard skating without any recurrence of injury or other setbacks.

"He's really in tune to his body," Maurice said Thursday, noting that the Panthers are taking a "smart instead of cautious" approach with Barkov's timeline. "He puts a lot of time into it. He was here for a long time [Wednesday] getting worked on. He'll play as soon as he says he's 100% ready."

Thursday's home game against the Vancouver Canucks will be the fourth in a row that Barkov will miss. He is also expected to be out Saturday against the Vegas Golden Knights and Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild .

The injury happened with about a minute left of the Panthers' 3-1 loss to the Senators on Oct. 10, when Barkov crashed into the end boards. He was trying to prevent an empty-net goal, giving chase toward a loose puck that Ottawa's Tim Stutzle tapped into the net to seal the Senators' win.

"Anytime you can see your captain getting back out there and making strides towards a comeback is obviously a boost towards your locker room," Florida forward Sam Reinhart said.

There was more good news on the Panthers' availability front Thursday: Maurice said forward Matthew Tkachuk is recovering well from an undisclosed illness and remains on pace to return Tuesday against Minnesota. He hasn't played since the Ottawa game as well.

Tkachuk is tentatively scheduled to resume skating Friday, Maurice said.

The 29-year-old Barkov -- the reigning Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's best defensive forward -- is in his 12th season, all with the Panthers. He was the first Finnish-born player to be the captain of a Stanley Cup champion when Florida topped Edmonton for last season's title.

The Panthers are scheduled to play two games in Barkov's homeland on Nov. 1 and 2, when they travel to Tampere, Finland, for a pair of matchups against the Dallas Stars .

Barkov is the Panthers' career leader in a number of categories, including goals (266), assists (446), points (712) and game-winning goals (48). He had one assist in the first two Florida games this season.