The Battle of Florida is Heated, to say the least. Both players and coaches are taking jabs at each other—on and off the ice. Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel was suspended for one game after a nasty hit on Aleksander Barkov in Game 2. Last night, Hagel was injured in Sunrise, and the crowd went wild.
NHL fans around the world were excited when the Battle of Florida kicked off the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers are both considered serious contenders by experts, and both teams are hoping to make a deep run.
Major Penalty
The Panthers are up 3–2 in the series after a 4–2 win at home last night. But the result wasn’t the main talking point afterward. Instead, it was the extremely physical play from both teams. Niko Mikkola of the Florida Panthers received a major penalty and was ejected from the game. But what really sent the Sunrise crowd into a frenzy was a hit from Aaron Ekblad on Brandon Hagel.
Brandon Hagel’s injury made crowd go wild
In Game 2 of the series, Brandon Hagel hit Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who had to leave the game. Hagel was suspended for one game, and while Barkov has since returned to play, the Florida crowd hasn’t forgotten who hurt their captain. In the middle of the second period, Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad hit Hagel, who fell to the ice, squirming in pain and eventually went down the tunnel. When the crowd realized it was Hagel down, they erupted.
Game 6 is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. You can watch the clip below.
