Florida Panther Injury Report: What exactly happened to Sam Reinhart after his early exit from Game 2?

Florida Panthers were taking on Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. But, Panthers star forward Sam Reinhart was forced to exit Game 2 as he sustained lower-body injury on Thursday. 

What exactly happened to Florida Panthers Sam Reinhart?

The incident occurred in the first period itself when Reinhart made a pass near the neutral zone. During this process, he was clipped by Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho. The center appeared to have made contact with Reinhart's left leg which caused him to fall on the ice. He was clearly in pain while making back to the bench. 

It was later announced by the Florida Panthers that Sam Reinhart would not return for the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, there was no penalty called on the play. Reinhart did return to the ice for a brief 12 second time late in the first period but didn't come back for the start of the second. 

The Florida Panthers went on to thrash Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 in Game 2 as Sam Bennett scored twice, with Matthew Tkachuk, Gustav Forsling and Aleksander Barkov chipping in with one goal each. 

Dr. Harjas Grewal on Sam Reinhart's status

Doctor Harjas Grewal provided with a detailed analysis of Sam Reinhart's injury and stated that it could be an MCL issue. Depending on the severity of the injury, Reinhart could be missing major chunk of his time on the ice. 

A grade 1 MCL sprain might keep him on a day-to-day basis, while grade 2 MCL sprain takes 4-6 weeks to recover. A grade 3 MCL tear could see him out of the action for months and even require surgery. It is even possible that he could have a torn ACL, which could make him sit out for more than 5 months.