Florida Panthers
Beef Between Tkachuk and Hischier Continued Tuesday, Panthers Beat Devils

Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk found himself in the middle of a fracas — surprise! — during the third period of Tuesday’s game against the Devils.
Tkachuk launched himself into Nico Hischier — again, surprise! — just after the Jersey captain got rid of the puck.
The Devils did not like that too much.
No real surprise there.
Tkachuk was quickly engulfed in red jerseys from New Jersey, the Devils sticking up for their captain with Jonas Siegenthaler putting Tkachuk in a headlock.
Penalties were called.
Tkachuk was given two penalties — one for interference on hitting Hischier, and another for getting buried in a mound of Devils.
They called that one ‘roughing.’
With a pair of minor penalties called on Tkachuk and a roughing on Siegenthaler, New Jersey went on a power play in a 1-1 game.
Florida killed off the penalty, the game remained tied at 1, and the Panthers eventually winning 2-1 in a shootout.
After the game, coach Paul Maurice was asked about Florida’s ability to stay out of the box.
Without mentioning Tkachuk, Maurice hinted he did not think there was interference at all.
That, or he was confused by the whole roughing thing.
Or he just didn’t think Tkachuk should have been given anything at all.
Florida was called for three penalties on Tuesday night — two on Tkachuk, and a holding on Mackie Samoskevich early in the first.
“We only took one penalty,” Maurice said.
“We got called for two, but only took one. It was good. It was a hard game, but reasonably smart. We need to stay out of the penalty box.”
Tkachuk makes a clean hit on Hischier, gets jump by 2 Devils and yet it's the Panthers heading to the penalty kill.
Puck is right there, so no idea how this is interference. pic.twitter.com/hQ8lKSYBl9
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) January 15, 2025
The Devils, as one may expect, did not see it that way.
“Obviously, I don’t see him coming,’’ Hischier said according to New Jersey Hockey Now.
“I don’t think I even touched the puck. So that’s part of it. He made the hit, and just I got a little bit emotional there. … I want to stick up for myself, too. And like I said, I think I just didn’t like the hit too much. I just got a little bit emotional there. That’s hockey.”
There has been bad blood between Hischier and the Panthers for the past couple of seasons after he injured Sasha Barkov with a stick to the knee during a faceoff on Dec. 17, 2022.
Tkachuk and Hischier fought in the game following the Barkov incident and have had run-ins since.
Barkov, for the record, said “I don’t think Nico is a dirty player. I don’t think it was intentional or anything. It was a battle situation and I don’t think he wanted to injure me. It happens in hockey but everyone is over it now.”
Apparently not.
New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said he “loved the response,’’ from his team.
“I thought it was great.”
Quarrel over a Lost Game, by Gillis van Tilborgh the Younger, mid 17th c, 📸 via @SpokedZ pic.twitter.com/3I2EgGgnAP
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) January 15, 2025
The Panthers and Devils are done for the regular season but certainly could meet up in the Eastern Conference finals.
Both teams look like locks to be top-3 teams in their respective divisions so they’ll have to get through two rounds of the playoffs for a rematch.
The Devils went 2-0-1 against the Panthers this season, with Jesper Boqvist getting Florida’s first goal 41 seconds into the third on Tuesday.
Hischier tied it at 2:27 of the period — and the score remained 1-1 the rest of the way.
Spencer Knight, who made 26 saves, stopped two of three in the shootout; Sasha Barkov and Anton Lundell scored for Florida and the Panthers come home with a split of the back-to-back after losing in Philadelphia the night before.
ON DECK: GAME No. 46
DETROIT RED WINGS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
- Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
- National TV: ESPN
- Streaming: ESPN+
- Radio: WPOW 96.5 FM-2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL/Panthers App
- Last Season: Florida won 3-1
- This Season — At Detroit: April 6. At Florida: Thursday; April 10.
- All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 39-19-7, 5 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Anaheim Ducks, 6 p.m.
