Hockey’s playoff intensity is a pressure cooker, and Game 3 of the Florida Panthers-Tampa Bay Lightning series served up a spicy moment that’s still sizzling. Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers’ fiery forward, found himself in the spotlight—not just for his goal-scoring prowess but for a controversial hit that earned him a five-minute major penalty and a pointed remark.
Tkachuk, who’s no stranger to the edge of the rulebook, opened the scoring just 2:43 into the game, tapping in a slick feed from Sam Bennett to notch his third goal of the series and his 20th playoff tally with Florida. The Panthers’ star, who lit the lamp twice in Game 1, was rolling. But the Lightning, despite missing suspended forward Brandon Hagel, answered back when Jake Guentzel’s shot deflected off Brayden Point and past Sergei Bobrovsky, ending Tampa’s scoring drought.
The real drama, though, came in the third period. Tkachuk leveled Guentzel with a late hit, deemed interference by the officials, earning a five-minute major. It echoed a similar incident from Game 2 when Hagel’s hard check on Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov sidelined him for the final 10 minutes, resulting in Hagel’s one-game suspension. Both hits were physical, both sparked debate, and Lightning Coach Jon Cooper brought the fire. During the postgame conference, when he was asked if he thought Tkachuk would face any repercussions for his hit, Cooper said, “The only players we hit are the ones with pucks.” Ring any bells? Well, it should. Because that is exactly what the Panthers Coach Paul Maurice had said after Brandon Hagel’s hit on captain Aleksander Barkov.
Jon Cooper took Paul Maurice’s quote bar for bar when asked about the Tkachuk hit…
THIS LEAGUE pic.twitter.com/Nr8oQD90lo
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 26, 2025
This is a developing story…
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