In the end, it was a fiery encounter between the Lightning and the Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs – any fan would agree. While the Panthers consolidated their lead by winning the game 4-2, it wasn’t without drama, though. During the game, the Lightning’s Brandon Hagel was injured after getting a hit on his face by Aaron Ekblad, in his return from suspension. Subsequently, he left the game after smacking the back of his head against the ice. However, there was some pre-drama in the lead-up to this incident, as explained by renowned TSN analyst Frankie Corrado.
Before Hagel got injured, he was suspended after delivering a late hit to an unsuspecting Aleksander Barkov. In a similar series of events, Barkov also left the game, though he was ruled fit to return for game 3. Some might see Ekblad’s hit as some retributive action on the part of his captain, though Corrado believed the Lightning had every right to be upset.
During TSN’s chat show featuring Jay Onrait, Onrait asked Corrado just how upset he thought the Lightning should be that Ekblad was on the ice and was able to influence the game the way he did. The short answer? Quite a lot. When your player takes a hit to the head and neck area so hard he has to leave the game, while the opposition player gets away scot-free, it’s not easy to keep calm. And to add salt to the wound, if that player goes on to score the crucial game-tying goal in the third period, with his team eventually winning 4-2, well, it’s more than understandable that the Lightning would feel hard done by, to say the least.
In response to Onrait’s question, Corrado, a huge Lightning fan, responded, “Well, they should be upset for sure, Jay, that he wasn’t penalized; like at the very minimum, Aaron Ekblad should have been penalized for that hit on Brandon Hagel. Now what that should be? A two-minute minor. The thing is you can call it a five-minute major, and then you can review it, and then you can rescind it if you want to or if you think that’s appropriate, but the officials deemed that that wasn’t necessary, so the play goes on, and so the Tampa Bay Lightning have every right to be upset about that in particular.”
Indeed, it was a memorable game for Ekblad, having spent 20 games on the sidelines due to a suspension after he was found guilty of violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. However, with Hagel ruled out of game 5 and Ekblad set to face a hearing for that hit, it looks like he may have yet another suspension coming his way. Amid the controversy surrounding Hagel and Ekblad, the Panthers’ coach, Paul Maurice, made his feelings felt on this matter.
Paul Maurice isn’t publicly backing or opposing the Aaron Ekblad call
Despite Ekblad’s aggressive play that resulted in the end of Hagel’s game, the former escaped any penalty and even went on to score a crucial goal. The Lightning were understandably frustrated, considering their series now hangs in the balance, with none more so than Jon Cooper. “It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game. If anybody in here has something, stand up and let me know. Alright, let’s move on.”
In contrast to Cooper’s frustration, Maurice cut a diplomatic figure. During the post-game interview, he said, “I want to be consistent with what I’ve said. On the Hagel (hit), I saw it. I’ve seen it before. Saw it last year. We’ll all coach, the players will play, the refs will make the calls, and the league will do what they will. I just want to be — I don’t want to use this platform to start making my case on this. Everybody’s got a job to do. I’ll stay in my lane.”
Well, that’s the Battle of Florida for you. As new as this rivalry has been, it has brought out the fire and intensity amongst both teams in spades. The series returns to the Amalie Arena in a few hours, where the Panthers get their first opportunity to wrap the series up.
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