Barkov back on ice for Panthers, who lead 2-0 in Cup final thanks to scoring from unsung heroes

Paul Maurice was in a much better mood Wednesday.

The Florida Panthers coach admitted the previous day that he was "grumpy" after Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final, despite a dominant victory over the Edmonton Oilers that gave his team a 2-0 series lead.

That was mostly because of the unknown status of Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who was knocked out of the game midway through the third period after Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl launched toward him and hit him in the head.

Barkov, who is tied with Matthew Tkachuk with a team-leading 19 points in the postseason, practised with the team Wednesday morning ahead of the Florida's trip to Edmonton for Game 3.

"It's the drive of my mood, right?" Maurice said.

"You go through that fear  — nobody wants to lose their captain. And you don't know if you have or not for a block of time, and then you find out there's a good chance you're not going to [lose him], and you're in a much better mood."

Maurice said the team will make a final decision about Barkov's Game 3 status on Thursday, but the star "felt better" Wednesday.

Barkov, who won the Selke Trophy this year as the league's top defensive forward, is a big reason for Florida's lockdown defence, winning 57.3 per cent of his faceoffs in the regular season and 53.4 per cent in the postseason.

"He's a huge part of our team and a huge piece of our game," said veteran Kyle Okposo, who added that it was great to have Barkov back on the ice.

Barkov had a pair of assists in the final opener but hasn't scored a goal yet in the series. Neither has Tkachuk, Florida's top-scoring forward, who has five goals and 14 assists in the playoffs.

Tkachuk being without a point hasn't been a problem for the Panthers, who control the series