NOTEBOOK: Barkov Joins Practice; Huberdeau's High Five

In today's Baptist Health Practice Notebook, Aleksander Barkov takes a big step in his recovery, Jonathan Huberdeau high-fives a Dolphin, and Sergei Bobrovsky will start against Washington.
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -The Panthers received a nice boost to begin their week when injured captain Aleksander Barkov re-joined the team for practice at the Panthers IceDen on Monday.
Out of the lineup ever since he suffered a lower-body injury against the Islanders on Nov. 16, Barkov, who also skated for roughly 40 minutes before practice, sported a yellow no-contact jersey during the session, but did participate in several low-impact drills with his teammates.

Prior to the injury, Barkov was Florida's leading scorer with 17 points (nine goals, eight assists).

"He looks good, even if he's not ready to play," Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau smiled when asked about his longtime friend and teammate getting back to work. "It's nice to see him. He's obviously our captain, so it's nice to see him on the ice. We hope he can come back soon."
While Barkov remains week-to-week in his recovery, this morning was certainly encouraging.
"It was great to see him," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said of Barkov, who was grinning ear to ear throughout his time on the ice. "It was good he's out there for the guys too. It was nice to see him skate. We'll see how he makes out every day and keep evaluating."
In addition to Barkov, Brunette also provided updates on several other injured players.
After missing the last two games, speedy winger Anthony Duclair, who is tied for the team-lead with nine goals, remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury, but could potentially return to the lineup either Thursday against the Sabres or Saturday against the Blues if everything goes well.
"He'll test it out tomorrow," Brunette said of Duclair's injury.
Unfortunately, the news was less encouraging for Gustav Forsling. After sustaining a lower-body injury during Saturday's loss to the Kraken, the smooth-skating defenseman, who ranks second on the team with 12 assists, is currently considered week-to-week for the time being.
Rounding out the injury updates, Mason Marchment is still week-to-week and Olli Juolevi is making progress and could have a conditioning stint at some point in the near future. As for Noel Acciari and Markus Nutivaara, who are both on LTIR, neither player's return is imminent.
"Hoping sooner rather than later," Brunette said of Marchment's potential return.
To help fill the voids in the lineup left by some of these injuries, the Panthers recalled defenseman Matt Kiersted and forward Aleksi Heponiemi from the AHL on Monday.
"It's a big test for our group," Brunette said of battling with the injury bug.
During practice, Kiersted looked to be spending most of his time paired with Radko Gudas, while Heponiemi skated as an extra forward with Barkov during the team's line rushes.
"Very mobile," Brunette said of Kiersted, who recorded six points (two goals, four assists) in 16 games with Charlotte prior to his recall. "A very heady player. He's got a good stick. … We didn't get to see him a whole lot, but I know he's trending in Charlotte and this is an opportunity."

HUBERDEAU'S HIGH FIVE

If you were watching the Dolphins on Sunday, you probably saw a familiar face.
After Myles Gaskin scored on a direct snap to put Miami up 27-10 over the Panthers (the other Panthers!) in the third quarter of an eventual 33-10 victory at Hard Rock Stadium, the Dolphins running back bolted to the back of the end zone and started high-fiving a group of excited fans.
Looking closely, you could clearly see that one of the fans enjoying those celebratory hand slaps was wearing a custom Dolphins home jersey with No.11 and "Huberdeau" on the back.
Of course, that's because that fan was actually Huberdeau himself.
"It was cool," Huberdeau said. "Obviously, we like to do to the games when we can. I like being close to the guys on the field. I got lucky that Gaskin scored a touchdown and came over. I just gave him a little tap. He gave the ball to a guy in the box beside me, and I got the high five."

Having already gone to a handful of Dolphins games already this season -- including one outing last month with a group that included MacKenzie Weegar, Aaron Ekblad and several others -- Huberdeau said it's been fun to see more and more fans catch players on television or in public.
And with the Cats off to a great 14-4-3 start, that buzz is likely to continue picking up steam.
"We're getting recognized a little bit more," Huberdeau said. "It was pretty cool yesterday."

BOBROVSKY TO START

When the Panthers host the Capitals on Tuesday, it'll be veteran Sergei Bobrovsky in net.
Announced by Brunette as the starter following this morning's practice, Bobrovsky owns a 9-1-2 record with a 2.03 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage this season. Yet to lose a game while on home ice, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has gone 7-0-0 at FLA Live Arena.
Among goalies with at least five starts at home, he ranks second in save percentage (.948%).
As for other lineup notes, stay tuned to @JamesonCoop on Twitter for updates tomorrow.