Welp, Paul Maurice is just out here riding the chaos wave like a seasoned storm captain. One day it’s a full-on playoff brawl, and the next, his star blueliner Aaron Ekblad’s catching a two-game timeout from the NHL’s Department of You-Did-What?! Yep, the elbow heard ’round Amalie Arena finally drew the whistle—it just came fashionably late. No penalty during the game, but now the league’s stepping in with a cold reminder that even in playoff madness, there’s still a rulebook buried somewhere under the ice. Ekblad, by the way, dropped that game-tying goal like a mic in the third before the league hit rewind on the replay. Meanwhile, Coach Maurice? He’s been here before, probably sipping coffee with a smirk thinking, “Oh, this again?”
And just like a dramatic playoff script, Tampa’s Brandon Hagel—fresh off his own suspension party for his hit on Barkov—got leveled and is now out for Game 5. Talk about playoff déjà vu with a twist. Lightning defender Erik Cernak basically shrugged with that classic hockey-player zen: “It kind of [stinks] because one of the guys for our team didn’t finish the game. It is what it is, you know? You can’t really look into that. We just have to play hockey and right now we just have to look to tomorrow’s game.” Honestly, everyone’s just trying to survive the thunder and fly toward that Stanley Cup light. Now, Paul Maurice brushes off the Ekblad suspension drama as the Florida Panthers stay locked in on chasing that Stanley Cup dream.
When the press tossed Paul Maurice a question about Ekblad’s looming suspension, you could almost hear the sigh in the room. But Maurice? Cool as ever. “We will have really important players out for big blocks of time,” he said, like it was just another day at the office. And he wasn’t wrong—this team’s been through it. Injuries, suspensions, lineup shakeups—it’s all part of the Panther playbook now. “If it’s the first time it happens, there’s even questions from the coaching staff about what’s the right adjustment to making your lineup,” he added, nodding to those early days when things used to rattle the cage a little more.
But now? They’ve grown into the chaos. “There’s a lot of unknown, because we’ve been through it so much,” Maurice admitted, and honestly, it hit like a veteran coach who’s learned to trust the system, even when it’s missing pieces. “Aaron’s out. We know what the deep errors are at the minute. Let’s just assume, you know, if he’s out of the lineup, and if he’s not, then we’ll go with what we got.” No panic, no drama—just a coach who’s been through the fire and knows his team can hold the line, no matter who’s suiting up.
And yeah, if it feels like déjà vu for Paul Maurice—well, that’s ’cause it totally is. Earlier this year, he had to ride out another storm when Aaron Ekblad got slapped with a massive 20-game suspension, without pay, no less, for violating the NHL and NHLPA’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. Not exactly the kind of headline you want when you’re trying to steer the defending champs through the season’s stretch run. Ekblad, blindsided by the results, owned up to it like a pro though. “Ultimately, I made a mistake by taking something to help me recover from recent injuries without first checking with proper medical and team personnel,” he said, laying it all out.
“I have let my teammates, the Panthers organization and our great fans down.” The dude was gutted, no doubt. “I have accepted responsibility for my mistake… I have learned a hard lesson and cannot wait to be back with my teammates,” he added in a statement that had the weight of regret written all over it. And for Coach Maurice? Man, it’s like he’s been handed a bingo card of chaos lately—injuries, suspensions, now elbows flying mid-playoff grind and he’s definitely not the only one getting tired of this rollercoaster.
Not just Paul Maurice, but the other coach too!
If you thought Paul Maurice was the only coach getting a little worn out from all these elbows and chaos, guess again—Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper was not holding back either. After Brandon Hagel took a brutal, high-flying elbow to the head from Aaron Ekblad mid-second period in Game 4, Cooper was visibly frustrated. In the postgame presser, Cooper had that don’t-test-me energy, tossing the mic back at the room. “It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,” he said, his tone sharp as skates on fresh ice. “Why are you asking me the question? If anyone in here has something [to say], stand up and let me know.” Yep—coach had time.
And talk about tangled storylines—Hagel had just gotten back from his own one-game suspension for his hit on Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2. It was like karma boomeranged back around, but no one blew the whistle this time. Meanwhile, Paul Maurice was playing it chill like a guy who’s been in the media blender one too many times. When asked about the hit, he kept it classy, kept it calm: “I don’t want to use this platform to start making my case on this,” he said coolly. “Everybody’s got a job to deal with, I’ll just stay in my lane.” Gotta respect that sidestep—it was like watching a coach backpedal through a minefield with a smile.
Now, while tempers flared and elbows flew, Florida had the last word where it mattered: the scoreboard. After Tampa’s quick-fire double punch gave them a 2-1 lead, the Panthers clawed back with a vengeance—boom, boom, boom. Goals from Ekblad (yep, that guy), Seth Jones, and Carter Verhaeghe sealed a wild 4-2 comeback win. Just like that, Paul Maurice’s squad is sitting pretty with a 3-1 series lead. And if they snag one more dub in Game 5? It’s onto NHL Round 2. One more win, and they’re dancing into the next chapter of the playoffs.
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