Chaos breaks out in ejection-filled game between Lightning and Panthers (2:13)The Lightning and Panthers scrap several times in a first period filled with plenty of game misconducts. (2:13)
SUNRISE, Fla. — Niko Mikkola had an assist on a goal that gave the Florida Panthers an 8-0 lead. Problem was, he’d been kicked out of the game a few minutes earlier and nobody noticed.
Florida defeated Tampa Bay 7-0 in the preseason finale for both clubs Saturday night, though the score was irrelevant. There were 65 penalties for 312 minutes on the stat sheet, including 13 game misconduct penalties — seven for Tampa Bay, six for Florida. The penalty count kept rising after the game, as officials were making sure everything that was called got logged.
“It got silly. It got stupid by the end of it,” Florida forward Evan Rodrigues said. “It wasn’t really hockey out there.”
“It made you think there might be something coming,” Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen said, when asked what he thought when he saw the Lightning called up players for the game.
What would have been the eighth Florida goal of the night, midway through the third period, was taken away 15 minutes after Jesper Boqvist scored. Off-ice officials realized that Mikkola couldn’t have had an assist on the play — since he’d been ejected earlier in the period.
Saturday’s game came two nights after the teams combined for 49 penalties and 186 minutes in another preseason contest, one the Lightning won 5-2.
Tampa Bay went to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals from 2020 through 2022, winning two titles in that span. Florida has been to each of the past three Stanley Cup Finals and has won the past two Cups. And there has long been a heated rivalry between the franchises.
“I think anybody that’s been a part of this rivalry would probably look at this box score and A, not be surprised and B, I can’t believe it’s taken this long for something like that to happen,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
Chaos breaks out in ejection-filled game between Lightning and Panthers (2:13)The Lightning and Panthers scrap several times in a first period filled with plenty of game misconducts. (2:13)
The Lightning and Panthers scrap several times in a first period filled with plenty of game misconducts. (2:13)
It was that kind of night between the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Florida had 17 power-play chances in the game, by the NHL’s count.
The Lightning took nine penalties and had no shots on goal in the third period.