Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel received a one-game suspension from the NHL on Friday, a day after hit injured Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.
Hagel received a five-minute interference penalty after laying out Barkov away from the puck at the 9:51 mark of the third period on Thursday night in Tampa. Barkov did not return to the game.
In a video regarding the decision, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety said, “Long after the puck is gone, Hagel loads up and delivers a high, hard body check that makes some head contact on Barkov. This is interference. It is important to note that Barkov is not in possession of the puck on this play and therefore is not eligible to be checked in any manner.
“While we understand Hagel’s argument that he is approaching the play as if Barkov will play the puck, the onus is on Hagel to be sure the player he is hitting is eligible to be checked.
“Here, Barkov is not eligible to be hit, and Hagel still intentionally delivers an extremely forceful body check to an unsuspecting opponent, with sufficient force for supplemental discipline.”
The Panthers collected a 2-0 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. Florida led 1-0 at the time of Hagel’s penalty and added an empty-netter by Sam Bennett in the final seconds.
Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday afternoon as the series shifts to Sunrise, Fla.
Hagel, 26, has not recorded any points in this series. He set career highs in goals (35), assists (55) and points (90) and played all 82 games in the regular season.
Barkov, 29, has three assists in the series. The Finnish forward recorded 71 points (20 goals, 51 assists) in 67 games during the regular season.
–Field Level Media
