In a Florida Panthers 5-4 shootout win over the Boston Bruins, rookie Sandis Vilmanis was forced to exit the game with an upper-body injury. 

The 22-year-old recorded just 2:35 of ice time, exiting the game in the first period. The Panthers did not announce that Vilmanis wouldn’t return to the game until the start of the third period. 

In Vilmanis’ brief game, he recorded two penalty minutes, which came on a controversial hit on Bruins’ star defenseman Charlie McAvoy. 

Vilmanis attempted to catch McAvoy with an open ice hit, but he connected with McAvoy’s head in the process. He was assessed a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head and did not play following the hit.

Following the game, coach Paul Maurice mentioned that Vilmanis should be “okay.” That’s good news for the Panthers and Latvia, who Vilmanis will be representing at the Olympics next week. 

Maurice also provided an update on defenseman Tobias Bjornfot, who did not play in the third period. Maurice said Bjornfot is unlikely to play tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bjornfot recorded just 8:27 of ice time, throwing one hit. What injury Bjornfot has sustained hasn’t been revealed yet.

The final update Maurice provided was that there are probably three guys who played tonight who won’t play tomorrow against the Lightning, Jordan McPherson reported.

The Panthers will be in Tampa Bay on Thursday for their final game before the 2026 Winter Olympics. 

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.