SUNRISE — It was not a brutal hit. More like a glancing blow.
Although, based on the reaction of Panthers coach Paul Maurice’s wife, it might have drawn a little blood.
We’re talking about Jon Cooper’s drive-by swipe at Maurice following Game 3 on Saturday. The previous day, Maurice had tersely answered a question about putting bodies on Nikita Kucherov by referencing Brandon Hagel’s brutal takedown of Aleksander Barkov in Game 2.
“The only players that we hit are the ones that have pucks,” Maurice said.
So, when Matthew Tkachuk slammed into Jake Guentzel seconds after he had passed the puck away on Saturday, Cooper was ready with a reply when asked about possible ramifications.
“The only players we hit are the ones with pucks,” Cooper said.
Good line, eh?
Well, Maurice and his wife, Michelle, were at home watching the Toronto-Ottawa playoff game Saturday night when a video of Cooper’s postgame reply showed up on the screen.
“He chirped me, right? Which I appreciate,” Maurice said, grinning. “He used my own words on me, too, although I’m not sure it’s applicable to the events on the ice. But it was still good.
“My wife got a good chuckle. She thought it was really funny.”
Welcome to the NHL playoffs where peeved is the starting point and torment is mandatory.
That’s particularly true in the case of the Panthers and Lightning, who are meeting for the fourth postseason in five years. Through the first three games of this series we’ve seen 11 roughing penalties, three unsportsmanlike and two misconducts. And that doesn’t even include the infamous Hagel and Tkachuk hits, which were technically ruled interference.
Which led Maurice to say this about the volatility after Game 3:
“I thought it was really, really quiet. I didn’t feel the intensity of the hitting as much.”
the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers as they scuffle during the second period in Game 3 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Rhona Wise) [ RHONA WISE | AP ]
Maybe Maurice really believed that. Or maybe he was anticipating a potential league review of Tkachuk’s hit and was trying to downplay the viciousness of the first three games.
If so, it worked. The league decided the Tkachuk hit didn’t rise to the level of Hagel’s hit, which drew a one-game suspension.
Although maybe Hagel’s suspension had something to do with the Panthers sandbagging the world by acting as if Barkov was practically comatose. Once Hagel was suspended, the Florida captain remarkably recovered to pull a full load in Game 3.
“Is there gamesmanship when you’re sitting six inches away from a microphone? Of course there is,” Cooper said on Sunday. “I can’t sit here and say I haven’t done it myself, but I know there’s 31 other coaches who have done the exact same thing.
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“The problem is the league’s probably smarter than us, so they know what we’re doing. But, yeah, there’s no doubt that definitely happens at times.”
We’ve come to expect that type of needling with hockey. Maybe even revel in it.
The players certainly appreciate the increased intensity. Hagel looked like he was having the time of his life chirping at the Florida bench at various times in Game 2. Zemgus Girgensons, who is in his first postseason after 11 seasons in the league, called playoff hockey “amazing.”
“It’s fast, it’s physical, it’s chippy, it’s just a lot of fun,” Girgensons said.
In the end, it’s also strategic. The Panthers, you may have heard, are a physical team. They led the NHL in hits by a wide margin and also were whistled for more penalty minutes than any team. But, beyond that, they have some world-class pests. Tkachuk? Sam Bennett? Brad Marchand?
Florida is a team that wants to knock you off your game, whether by intimidation or annoyance. Which might explain the ever-expanding number of scrums we’ve seen in the first three games.
“You’re fighting for every inch, that’s what playoff hockey is all about,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said. “It’s not just in our series, it’s other series as well. It’s part of the game. You try to stay as cool as you can and not take penalties.”
“(Game 3) was a good example. You’re only picking (one penalty) every scrum, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re on the right end of it. But in the heat of the moment, sometimes the emotions get the better of you.”
You could argue that the tone for the series was set in the first period of Game 1, when Tkachuk took out Kucherov and was sent to the penalty box for roughing. The Panthers gave up a tying goal on the subsequent power play, but it was worth it if it took the Lightning out of their offense for two games.
You could argue a potential turning point in the series was Hagel’s suspension for the hit on Barkov. It ramped up Tampa Bay’s desperation level and brought out their best in Game 3.
You could argue that Cooper’s public downplaying of the league’s refusal to punish Tkachuk is not the same narrative he will bring into the locker room before Game 4.
You could argue a lot of things.
It’s playoff hockey.
Panthers 2, Lightning 1
EASTERN CONFERENCE, FIRST ROUND
Game 1: Panthers 6, Lightning 2
Game 2: Panthers 2, Lightning 0
Game 3: Lightning 5, Panthers 1
Monday: at Sunrise, 7, FanDuel Sports Sun, ESPN
Wednesday: at Amalie Arena, 7:30, FanDuel Sports Sun, ESPN2
Friday: at Sunrise, TBD*
Sunday: at Amalie Arena, TBD*
*if necessary
• • •
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