Sharks place 1st-overall pick Macklin Celebrini on IR with lower-body injury after NHL debut

The San Jose Sharks placed rookie Macklin Celebrini on the injured reserve list on Saturday with a lower-body injury.

The move came two days after Celebrini made an impressive debut by recording a goal and an assist in an overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

The 18-year-old Celebrini was picked first overall in June and is being counted on to help spark a rebuild in San Jose. He was hampered in the preseason with a lower-body injury. Coach Ryan Warsofsky said Celebrini is week to week.

Players on injured reserve must miss seven days from the last game they played in.

Impressive debut

Celebrini became the youngest player in NHL history to record two points in the first period of his debut, according to Sportradar, doing it at 18 years, 119 days. Shane Doan held the previous mark of 18 years, 362 days, when he had two points for Winnipeg against Dallas in 1995.

He also scored the second-fastest first goal ever for a No. 1 pick, with his goal 7:01 into the opener trailing only Mario Lemieux, who scored 2:59 into his debut against Boston on Oct. 11, 1984.

Celebrini had 64 points in 38 games as a freshman at Boston University last season, when he won the Hobey Baker Award as the top college player.

Barkov to miss 2-3 weeks

Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will miss two to three weeks with a lower-body injury, coach Paul Maurice said Saturday.

Maurice said he's optimistic Barkov will return in time for — if not sooner than — the Panthers' two NHL Global Series games against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 1- 2, which are being held in the centre's hometown of Tampere, Finland.

"It may take that amount of time, but we think he should be in that window," Maurice said following the Panthers' morning skate before their game at Buffalo.

Barkov was hurt with 70 seconds left in a 3-1 loss at Ottawa on Thursday, when he was attempting to prevent Tim Stützle from scoring an empty-net goal. He and the Senators forward got tangled up, with Barkov crashing feet first into the end boards.

Grimacing in pain, Barkov needed about a minute before he could get to his feet, and then he required help from teammates Evan Rodrigues and Uvis Balinskis to get off the ice.

Maurice also said Saturday that forward Matthew Tkachuk would not play against Buffalo because of an illness.

Defenceman Adam Boqvist is scheduled to return after missing one game. He will be wearing protective head gear after being struck in the face by a puck in the defending Stanley Cup champion's season-opening 6-4 win over Boston on Tuesday.