Huge piece missing from Panthers’ practice ahead of Game 3!

The action might have shifted to Florida ahead of Game 3 on Thursday night, the news isn’t better down south for the Panthers. On Wednesday morning, defenseman Radko Gudas was missing from practice, per Sportsnet's Luke Fox.

Gudas left Game 2 during the first period after taking a hard hit from Vegas Golden Knights forward Ivan Barbashev. The bearded defenseman was zoning in on the Russian forward to check him, but Barbashev saw Gudas coming and delivered a counter-hit instead.

It looked like Barbashev’s shoulder hit Gudas square in the face, knocking him back and onto the ice.

Gudas got back up and skated to the bench. But he walked down the tunnel to Florida’s dressing room. This was the second time in this series that Gudas appeared to tweak something. He briefly left Game 1 during the first period, but he returned for the second and finished the game.

Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen, who has yet to play in either game of the Stanley Cup Final, was also missing from practice. He left Game 4 of the Conference final against Carolina during the second period after blocking a shot by Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce. He has remained day-to-day. 

Head coach Paul Maurice is usually pretty secretive about his players’ injuries and will probably call Gudas a game-time decision ahead of the third contest of the final. He did confirm that Luostarinen won't take part in Game 3. 

The Panthers must find a way to win Game 3 if they’re going make this a series. They will look to claw their way back into the Stanley Cup Final after dropping the first two games in Vegas by a combined score of 12-4.

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