When the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils faced off last week, the Panthers took a huge blow as captain Alexander Barkov had to leave the game in the first period. He took a cross-check to the left leg from Devils captain Nico Hischier, and Barkov didn’t return in the second period.
Hischier played with a target on his back for the rest of the game, and the Panthers took every opportunity to go after him. The Panthers managed to pull off a 4-2 win, despite being without their captain and one of the league’s best players.
Alexander Barkov was assessed day-to-day, but many believed he would be dressed when the Panthers and Devils played each other yet again on Wednesday. But Barkov was missing from the roster, which may have triggered his teammates even more. Although several days had passed since the Hischier and Barkov incident, the Panthers players were still clearly fed up.
As the game was coming to an end, with the Panthers down two goals in the game, a scrum broke out following an empty net goal from the Devils. Matthew Tkachuk, of course, wanted to get involved, and he had his eyes set on one man.
He grabbed Hischier and had just enough time to throw some shots before the officials came in to break the two players apart. Tkachuk wouldn’t let it go, however, and chased after Hischier.
Tkachuk was thrown out of the game for the remaining short part of the game, but at least he got some revenge on Hischier after his cross-checking on Barkov.
It’s safe to say that it’ll be exciting to see what happens when the teams play next, on March 18, next year.
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