The Florida heat’s got nothing on the chaos brewing on the ice right now. On one side, you’ve got the Battle of Florida firing up, and on the other, poor Brandon Hagel’s stuck right in the middle of the madness. Panthers, fresh off their Stanley Cup glory run, were ready to defend their crown, while the Lightning sneaked in as division runners-up, plotting a revenge story for the ages. With playoff dreams hanging by a thread, clutch performances are everything. And hey, with history between these two going back decades and the Panthers still holding bragging rights from last year’s playoff dust-up, you know this series is straight-up savage.
The Sunshine State rivalry has never been for the faint-hearted. Last year, the Panthers bulldozed the Lightning in 5 games, flipping the script after years of getting torched by Tampa. But let’s not forget—before that, the Lightning had owned this dance floor, sweeping the Panthers right out of the 2021-22 playoffs and flexing their own championship muscles. Fast-forward to now, the Panthers have nudged ahead in the playoff saga with 2-1 right now, but Round 2 is creeping in fast… and Brandon Hagel is catching all kinds of heat from Florida Panthers fans. So, with the Battle of Florida reaching a full boil, the real question is—why exactly are Panthers fans booing Brandon Hagel?
Colby Guy, the Florida Panthers writer for PucksAndPalms.com & @pbpost, even hopped on X to spill the tea, saying, “Panthers fans are booing Brandon Hagel whenever he gets the puck. Would imagine Matthew Tkachuk gets the same treatment in Tampa on Wednesday.” And honestly, with the way things have been going, no lies detected there. A few days ago, chaos exploded during Game 2 when Hagel absolutely leveled Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov with a nasty hit. That wrecking-ball moment knocked Barkov right out of the game and got Hagel slapped with a one-game suspension by the NHL Department of Player Safety.
Panthers fans are booing Brandon Hagel whenever he gets the puck.
Would imagine Matthew Tkachuk gets the same treatment in Tampa on Wednesday.
— Colby Guy (@ColbyDGuy) April 28, 2025
Saturday’s Game 3 rolled around, and guess what? No Hagel in sight. The rivalry that’s already known for walking the tightrope between ‘physical’ and ‘somebody call 911’ just got even more feral. Now, if you thought that was the end of the madness—buckle up. Game 3 delivered a whole new dose of drama when Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk decided it was his turn to stir the pot. He spun around and delivered a brutal blindside hit on Jake Guentzel and the refs handed Tkachuk a five-minute major penalty right there, and the internet exploded, wondering if he’d get suspended too.
But here’s where it gets juicy: the league decided to let Tkachuk off the hook for Game 4. According to Elliotte Friedman, he skated free because he didn’t make head contact, the hit happened after Guentzel touched the puck, and, well, the hit wasn’t as savage as Hagel’s WWE-style slam on Barkov. Meanwhile, Tkachuk’s skating around like it’s just another Tuesday.
This story is developing…
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