Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett will miss seven days or more after absorbing teammate Brandon Montour's shot with his hand Tuesday night, head coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday.

Maurice likened Bennett's relatively short recovery timetable to hearing his car was in an accident but discovering it was only a fender bender, according to team reporter Jameson Olive.

“Got to the rink and got great news,” the bench boss added.

Montour's shot hit Bennett in the left hand in the second period of Game 2 of the Panthers' first-round playoff matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bennett immediately departed and didn't return.

The Panthers referred to Bennett's ailment as an upper-body injury.

Bennett had been centering the Panthers' second line between Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk.

The injured center opened the scoring and then drew the primary assist on Vladimir Tarasenko's goal that gave Florida a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 overtime victory.

Bennett produced 20 goals and 21 assists over 69 games during the regular season. He's in his third full campaign (and fourth in total) with the Panthers, who acquired him in a trade with the Calgary Flames in April 2021.

The Ontario-born pivot, who'll turn 28 on June 20, also racked up 173 hits in 2023-24.

Florida holds a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday at Tampa's Amalie Arena.

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The Islanders will turn to goalie Ilya Sorokin for Thursday's Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes with New York down 2-0 in the series, head coach Patrick Roy announced Wednesday, per the New York Post's Ethan Sears.

Semyon Varlamov has started the first two games of the opening-round clash and has surrendered six goals on 63 shots, good for a .905 save percentage. The Hurricanes beat him twice in a span of nine seconds to seal the comeback victory in Game 2.

The 35-year-old has saved 2.2 goals above expected at all strengths in the series so far, per Natural Stat Trick.

"We knew we would have to use both goalies," Roy said, per NHL.com's Shawn P. Roarke. "They are both sharp and (Varlamov) faced a lot of shots in the last game, so it would be good to have someone fresh (Thursday)."

Sorokin posted a .909 save percentage and a 25-19-12 record during the regular season - a bit of a down year by his standards. He's appeared on the Vezina Trophy ballot in each of the past two campaigns and was the runner-up last season.

The Islanders leaned on Varlamov down the stretch as they forced their way into the playoff picture. He posted a sterling 8-1-1 record, .930 save percentage, and 2.09 goals against average in his last 10 games of the regular season. He had won his last five starts heading into the postseason.

Sorokin owns a career .925 save percentage, 2.70 goals against average, and 6-5 record across two playoff runs in 2021 and 2023.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are expected to be without defenseman Brett Pesce for the remainder of the series.

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