NHL suspends Panthers' Aaron Ekblad for dirty hit on Lightning's Brandon Hagel

Aaron Ekblad won't be in Tampa on Wednesday.

The Florida Panthers will look to close out the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night. They will have to do it without one of their top defenseman. Panthers defender Aaron Ekblad has been hit with a two-game suspension for his hit on Lightning forward Brandon Hagel. The Department of Player Safety announced the punishment on Tuesday.

Hagel will not play in Game 5 either, as he deals with the injury he picked up on the hit. He was suspended for Game 3 after a hit on Aleksander Barkov, which forced the response from Ekblad. The Lightning and Panthers will both be short-handed for the big game on Wednesday.

Ekblad missed the first two games of this series, finishing off a 20-game PED suspension. After winning the Stanley Cup last year, the former top pick has struggled this year and finished it off with two suspensions. The Panthers traded for Seth Jones, a younger righty defenseman, just before the suspension with Ekblad's contract expiring.

The Lightning need to win this home game to force a trip back to Sunrise. Otherwise, their championship run could be over after a third straight first-round exit. While the Panthers are not a shabby team to lose to, it would be the second time in three years that they lost to their biggest rival. Despite not having Ekblad, the Panthers should be able to close out this series. They beat the Lightning in both games he did not play earlier in the series, and have been the better team.

Their comeback in Game 4 completely changed the set, and this hit is a big part of it. While Hagel was out of the game, Ekbald was not penalized and continued to play. Florida scored twice in 11 seconds to take the lead late in the third period.