Brandon Hagel Suspended for Hit on Sasha Barkov

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel has been suspended for Game 3 on Saturday for his hit on Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov. 

Hagel took out Barkov at 9:51 of the third period on Thursday in Tampa.

He was given a major penalty for interference after it was determined the hit was not only late, but Barkov had never touched the puck in the first place.

In the NHL Department of Player Safety video explanation of the suspension, it states Hagel “loads up and delivers a high, hard body check that makes some head contact on Barkov. … It is important to note that Barkov is never in possession of the puck on this play and is therefore not eligible to be checked in any manner.’’

Hagel apparently argued that he made the play as if Barkov was going to play the puck as it went around the end boards, the DoPS states “the onus is on Hagel to ensure the player he is hitting is eligible to be checked. Barkov is not eligible to be hit, and Hegel still intentionally delivers an extremely forceful body check to an unsuspecting opponent with sufficient force for supplemental discipline.’’

The Panthers could be without Barkov in Game 3 as well, with coach Paul Maurice saying Friday that Barkov “hasn’t been ruled out yet, and he hasn’t been cleared.’’

Florida won the first two games of the series in Tampa, and holds a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.

Games 3 and 4 will be played in Sunrise.

Losing Hagel will be a concern for a Lightning team that is struggling to do anything offensively against the Panthers.

Hagel’s 90 points ranked second on the Lightning this season, and his career-high 35 goals was fourth.

“Obviously ‘Hags’ is a big part of this team and everything we do, but throughout the season we’ve always had that next-man up mentality,” Lightning forward Mitchell Chaffee said per NHL.com.

“When someone goes down, gets hurt or whatever happens, the rest of us have to step up and get the job done.”

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE 1ST ROUND: GAME 3

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 

Panthers Lead Best-of-7 Series 2-0

• When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• National TV: TBS/truTV
• Streaming: Panthers+, MAX
• Radio: WAXY 790-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Florida 6, @ Tampa Bay 2; Game 2: Florida 2, @ Tampa Bay 0; Game 3 at Florida: Saturday, 1 (TBS/Scripps); Game 4 at Florida: Monday, 7 (ESPN/Scripps);Game 5* at Tampa: Wednesday (TBA); Game 6* at Florida: Friday, May 2 (TBA); Game 7* at Tampa: Sunday, May 4 (TBA).
• Regular Season Series: Tied 2-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 79-53-19, 10 ties
• All-Time Postgame Series: Tampa Bay Leads 2-1 (won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS); Florida d. Lightning 4-1 in 2024 first-round.