Panthers' Dmitry Kulikov: Will miss approximately five months

Kulikov underwent surgery for his upper-body injury and is expected to be shelved for at least five months, Sean Shapiro of DLLS Sports reports Wednesday.

Kulikov's extended absence is another significant injury blow to a Panthers team that is already missing forwards Aleksander Barkov (knee) and Matthew Tkachuk (groin). At this point, the veteran Kulikov could be out of the lineup until mid-March. With Kulikov unavailable for the last two games, Uvis Balinskis has been skating on the third pairing.