Kulikov assisted on the first goal of the contest in Thursday's shootout win against the Sharks. After missing four games due to injury, Kulikov returned to the lineup in a big way for the Panthers. His first shot on goal was tipped in by Nick Bjugstad to give him his fifth assist on the season. He also had two penalty minutes with three shots on goal and a team high five blocked shots. Florida did not ease him into the lineup because he ended up playing 23:42 of ice time which was only behind Brian Campbell. He also played 3:48 minutes on the second unit power play. Only concern is that Aaron Ekblad has taken his usual spot on the first power play unit since he was out with the knee injury. Unless Ekblad has a bit of a slump, don't expect Kulikov to see top unit minutes any time soon.