Matthew Tkachuk Avoids Additional Discipline For Late Hit

Matthew Tkachuk Avoids Additional Discipline For Late Hit

Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk will not face any additional discipline from the league for his hit on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel on Saturday. The late hit earned Tkachuk a 5 minute major for interference, as his team would go on to eventually fall 5-1.

Although Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel earned a 1 game suspension for his interference on Panthers’ captain Aleksander Barkov, the league feels that the two incidents are not comparable. Per Elliotte Friedman, “the league views Tkachuk’s hit as different than Hagel’s because of less force, no head contact, and because Guentzel played the puck”.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise to many Lightning fans, as well as Guentzel himself who had this to say following the contest: “I passed the puck and it felt like a long time after I got hit,” Guentzel said. “I’m sure the league’s going to take a look at it. We know the history of what’s happened the last couple games. I’m sure they’ll do their job.”

Guentzel wasn’t injured on the play, however Barkov left the contest following the Hagel hit. He would however be in the lineup for Game 3.

Game 4 is scheduled for Monday night at 7pm ET with the Panthers holding a 2-1 series lead.

Photo: pointnshoot. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

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