Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad of Windsor, Ontario has been suspended two games in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This will mean he will miss games five and six in the first round for the Panthers as they try to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers currently lead the Lightning three games to one in the best out of seven series.
Why did the suspension take place?
Ekblad was suspended two games for elbowing Brandon Hagel of the Lightning at 11:20 of the second period. There was no penalty on the play. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was furious about the non-call. One must wonder how there was no penalty on the hit and a two game suspension was enforced by the National Hockey League.
Due to the nature of the elbowing penalty, a five minute major could have easily been enforced. The Lightning have every reason to be upset because Ekblad ended up scoring the game-tying goal at two with three minutes and 47 seconds left in the third period from Sam Reinhart of West Vancouver, British Columbia. The Panthers went on to beat the Lightning 4-2 in game four to take a stranglehold in the series. It should be noted that Hagel will not play game five because of a possible head injury.
Other suspensions in the All-Florida rivalry
At the end of the regular season, Panthers forward Jesse Puljujarvi was suspended two games for a check to the head on Lightning right winger Mitchell Chaffee. As a result, Chaffee missed game one of the playoffs. Then in the playoffs, Hagel was suspended for game three of the series due to a hard hit on Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in game two. One must wonder if the elbow by Ekblad was considered as payback for Hagel’s hit on Barkov. Game five is Wednesday evening in Tampa.
