The NHL pre-season is just about wrapped up, and for the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, it ended on a violent note.
Florida and Tampa Bay played each other three times in a row to end their respective pre-season campaigns. With each game, the contests became more violent, and the final contest ended with more than 300 penalty minutes.
The two Floridan giants are no doubt rivals, but did this pre-season cement themselves as the biggest and nastiest rivalry in the NHL?
The first exhibition game between these two teams this season came on Sep. 30. It was rather ordinary as the Lightning took that tie 3-2.
However, on Oct. 2 and Oct. 4, these games were anything but ordinary.
The game on Oct. 2 was interesting because both teams had set out the majority of their NHL rosters. Veterans who would likely want to get through pre-season matchups without any drama, injuries, or making the games longer than they have to be.
Nonetheless, a total of 186 penalty minutes were accumulated, with Panthers left winger AJ Greer recording a game high of 29 penalty minutes. Most of his time was created from a bout with Lightning left winger Brandon Hagel.
As a result, Hagel did not continue to play the rest of the game due to injury. Greer went on to receive a fine worth $2,213.54 for his actions, the maximum allowed under the CBA.
It turns out this rivalry was only scratching the surface in comparison to the game on Saturday night. In the opening three minutes, Tampa right winger Scott Saubourin laid a huge hit on Florida D-man Aaron Ekblad. They dropped the gloves immediately after, and the floodgates were open for the rest of the outing.
Sabourin received a match penalty for his actions on Ekblad and was one of many players who would get ejected from this game. Along with Sabourin, Bolts defenseman JJ Moser will receive a hearing from NHL player safety.
Moser is receiving disciplinary attention for boarding Panthers center Jesper Boqvist. Tampa’s blueliner was another player who got ejected from this game.
In addition to the two hearings, two members of the Lightning received fines for cross-checking. Center Gage Goncalves was fined $3,125 for cross-checking Evan Rodrigues. Meanwhile, defenseman Roman Schmidt was fined $2,098.52 for cross-checking Carter Verhaeghe. Both fines were the maximum allowed under the CBA.
By the end of the contest, there were 16 ejections, 312 penalty minutes from 65 penalties, and there was even a goal removed from the board several minutes after it was scored.
At one point, this game was 8-0 for the Panthers. However, over five minutes of game clock after the 8-0 goal, the officials were having a discussion during a TV timeout that led to that goal being removed.
This is because Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola provided an assist on the goal, despite being ejected sometime before that. The referees were able to sort out the situation, sending Mikkola to the dressing room, and the game proceeded and ended with a 7-0 score.
With all the chaos that ensued over this pre-season between the two teams from Florida, it’s safe to say that this rivalry is alive and well. It’s certainly one of the nastiest, violent and filled-with-hatred rivalries in the NHL to date.
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