Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad knocked Brandon Hagel out of Game 4 with an unpenalized high hit in the Tampa Bay Lightning forward’s return from a one-game suspension,
Then Ekblad played a key role in the defending champion Panthers’ come-from-behind 4-2 victory on Monday that featured two team records and pushed the Lightning to the brink of elimination.
The defenseman skated toward Hagel and caught him high with his forearm in the second period. Hagel fell backward and hit his head on the ice. He appeared to be woozy when he got up and headed to the dressing room.
Hagel, who had 90 points in the regular season, didn’t return for the game.
He had been suspended for Game 3 of the first-round series for interference after his hard hit knocked Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov out of Game 2. That was followed by a late Matthew Tkachuk hit in Game 3 that drew no disciplinary action.
‘It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,’ Lightning coach Jon Cooper said in his postgame news conference before not answering.
How the Panthers beat Lighting in Game 4
No penalty was called on the Ekblad hit during the game, which left Cooper irate on the bench. But the coach soon was celebrating.
When play resumed after the Hagel injury, Tampa Bay’s Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak scored 11 seconds apart for a 2-1 Lightning lead. That set a Lightning record for fastest two playoff goals.
Ekblad appeared to tie the game in the third period, but the Lightning challenged for offsides, won on review and the goal was oveturned.
Ekblad’s next goal counted. He was left alone in front when he received a pass from Sam Reinhart and beat Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy at 16:13.
Seth Jones put Florida ahead with a goal 11 seconds later, setting a Panthers record. The previous mark of 14 seconds had been set in Game 1 by Nate Schmidt and Matthew Tkachuk.
Carter Verhaeghe put the game away with an empty-net goal.
The Panthers lead the series 3-1 and could wrap it up with a victory in Game 5 on Wednesday in Tampa
Niko Mikkola ejected for boarding Zemgus Girgensons
The Ekblad hit wasn’t the only rough one in the game. Florida’s Niko Mikkola was ejected for boarding Zemgus Girgensons in the third period. Girgensons was down on his knees when Mikkola hit him.
Stars rout Avalanche for series lead
Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston scored nine seconds into the game for his first goal of the 2025 playoffs. He finished with two goals and an assist in a 6-2 win that Dallas gave a 3-2 series lead.
Mikko Rantanen also scored his first playoff goal with the Stars.
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