The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning series intensified on Saturday after a controversial hit involving Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk and Lightning's Jake Guentzel during Game 3.
The Lightning earned a 5-1 victory at Amerant Bank Arena to cut Florida’s series lead to 2–1, but the late-game incident drew much of the postgame attention.
With the Lightning ahead 4-1 late in the third period and on the play in which Tampa Bay scored the final empty-goal to make it 5-1, Tkachuk delivered an open-ice hit on Guentzel shortly after he released the puck.
The hit sent Guentzel hard to the ice and resulted in a five-minute major penalty for interference assessed to Tkachuk. Despite the physicality of the hit, Guentzel showed no signs of injury after the game.
Guentzel, who remained in the game, spoke about the incident afterward, appearing on "NHL on TNT."
"I passed the puck and it felt like a long time after I got hit," Guentzel said. "I’m sure the league’s going to take a look at it.
"We know the history of what’s happened the last couple games. I’m sure they’ll do their job."
The controversy followed a similar situation from Game 2, when Lightning forward Brandon Hagel delivered a high hit on Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, forcing him out of the contest with an injury.
Hagel’s hit drew a major penalty and a one-game suspension, adding more scrutiny to Tkachuk’s play after Game 3 ended in a Lightning victory.
Meanwhile, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper referred back to comments made by Panthers coach Paul Maurice after the controversial Game 2 hit, using his exact remarks.
"The only players we hit are the ones with pucks," Cooper said.
Game 4 between the Panthers and Lightning is scheduled for Monday night in Sunrise, Florida. No team has won a home game in the series through three outings.
