The Florida Panthers had to make some adjustments to their bottom-six after losing one of their forwards midway through Game 5.

Eetu Luostarinen exited the Eastern Conference Final showdown against the Carolina Hurricanes after suffering an apparent injury in the first period of Wednesday’s game.

The team later announced during the second period that he would not return for the remainder of the contest.

Luostarinen, 26, left the game near the end of the first after missing a check on Hurricanes winger Taylor Hall and going into the boards. He missed his final shift of the period.

Up to that point in the game, Luostarinen had played 3:37 and was a minus-1.

The Finnish winger was also cross-checked by Hurricanes winger William Carrier earlier in the frame, but didn’t seem hobbled by the incident.

Replacing Luostarinen at left wing on the third line alongside Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand was Tomas Nosek, who had previously lined up as the team’s fourth centre.

So far in the playoffs, Luostarinen has four goals and nine assists while playing 15:15 on average per night over 16 contests.