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Lightning Forward Suspended For Hit vs. Panthers

The Tampa Bay Lightning lose one of their top forwards in a do-or-die situation.

Jon Alfano

Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel skates against the New York Islanders.
Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel skates against the New York Islanders. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel has been suspended one game for interference against Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Friday night.

With around 10 minutes to go in regulation of Game 2 on Thursday night, Hagel laid out Barkov after the puck went past the Panthers captain. He received a five-minute major penalty for the hit, which was upheld after review, and did not return.

Meanwhile, Barkov did not return to the game after the hit. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice did not have an update on Barkov's health after the game.

Hagel, 26, has emerged as one of the Lightning's top forwards over the past few years. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native scored a career-high 90 points (35 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games during the regular season, and he did it all without scoring a single power play goal. He's also a strong two-way player and a core piece of Tampa Bay's penalty kill.

Needless to say, the Lightning will miss Hagel as their backs are against the wall. They're already down 2-0 as the series shifts to Sunrise, and losing one of their top forwards when they're struggling to generate offense could be a death sentence.

Puck drop for Game 3 between Tampa Bay and Florida is set for 1 p.m. ET on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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