The Department of Player Safety also determined that Tkachuk's hit was less forceful than the one delivered by Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2, per Kaplan. Hagel’s hit resulted in a one-game suspension.

The Battle of Florida continues to be one of the most intense rivalries in the NHL, and Game 3 took things to another level for the Florida Panthers and Tampa B

The debate over Matthew Tkachuk’s hit on Jake Guentzel during Game 3 of the series between the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning spilled into Saturday night. First, Lightning head coach John Cooper clapped back at his counterpart on the Panthers bench using Paul Maurice's own words during the postgame media availability.