Tim Thomas' return to the National Hockey League this season hasn't been without setbacks. The Florida Panthers goalie left the ice with just 2:59 remaining in the third period during a 2-2 tie with the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks and did not return after sustaining what the team described as a lower body injury for the second time this month.
Thomas was in between the pipes for just his third game since missing four contests due to a groin injury he sustained Oct. 8 in a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, but the team said that the two injuries had no connection. With a little over two minutes left in the final frame, Thomas went down to make a save and didn't get up as he remained flat on his stomach on the ice in a look of discomfort. He skated to the Florida bench after the next whistle and winced in pain when he tried to test out his leg by moving it.
Thomas was replaced by Jacob Markstrom, who manned the crease for Florida for the rest of the third and through overtime before allowing two goals to get passed him in the shootout en route to the Panthers falling to Chicago by a score of 3-2. Thomas turned aside 25 of 27 shots before departing.
The Panthers fell to 3-6-1 in the loss and have seven points on the season while they are seventh in the Atlantic Division, seven points behind the first place Toronto Maple Leafs (7-3-0, 14 points). Chicago improved to 6-1-2 in the victory and its 14 points trail only the Colorado Avalanche (8-1-0, 16 points) for first in the newly aligned Central Division.
Panthers coach Kevin Dineen couldn't provide an update on Thomas, but said they are recalling Scott Clemmensen from their American Hockey League affiliate in San Antonio.
Thomas won the Stanley Cup championship and Conn Smythe Trophy in 2011 with the Boston Bruins and is a two-time Vezina Trophy winner (2009, 2011), but he sat out the 2013 season which led to him being traded to the New York Islanders. The backstop never played for New York and allowed his contract to run out before joining the Panthers off of a professional try out and signing a one-year deal during this season's preseason.
On the season, Thomas is 2-3-0 with a 3.11 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
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