Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel could be facing discipline from the league.
The NHL's Department of Player Safety said it will have a hearing with Hagel on Friday over his hit that injured Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in Thursday's Game 2.
The third-period play resulted in a five-minute interference major. Barkov did not return to action following the collision.
"He hasn't been ruled out yet and he hasn't been cleared," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said on Friday when asked about Barkov's status for Game 3.
Florida led 1-0 at the time, and an empty-netter by Sam Bennett with about three seconds remaining gave the Panthers a 2-0 win in the game and 2-0 lead in the series.
“Refs made the call,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who pleaded his case unsuccessfully after the penalty on Hagel was called. “I was a little surprised it was a (major) ... five minutes in a 1-0 game with eight minutes to play, nine minutes to play, that's a tough situation to be in.”
Barkov has three assists so far in the series, including one on Florida's opening goal Thursday by defenceman Nate Schmidt — who got the winning goals in both games at Tampa. Schmidt scored twice in Florida's 6-2 win in the series opener on Tuesday.
The question for Florida now becomes if Barkov will miss time going forward. Game 3 of the series is Saturday afternoon on the Panthers' ice in Sunrise, where they'll play a home playoff game for the first time since June 24, 2024 — when they beat Edmonton in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
“He's irreplaceable,” Panthers defenceman Seth Jones said. “He's an irreplaceable player. Face-offs, power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5, playing against their top lines, one of the best centremen in the league. He's obviously super-important to our team.”
--with files from The Associated Press
