Ekblad Knocks Hagel Out of Game 4. Cooper, Maurice Mum

SUNRISE — Questionable hits have been a big storyline in this Battle of Florida, with Aaron Ekblad getting in on the action by dropping Brandon Hagel in the second period on Monday night.

Hagel, one may remember, popped Florida captain Sasha Barkov behind the net in Game 2 of the Panthers 2-0 win on Thursday night.

Ekblad did not need any reminding, apparently.

Monday night, with Ekblad and Hagel on the ice for the first time, the Florida defenseman got a rousing ovation from the home crowd when he hit Hagel high along the boards.

It looked like he caught Hagel high with an elbow.

Hagel hit the deck — and left the game for good.

Ekblad was not penalized, but that could be coming later today when he has a phone meeting with the NHL Department of Player Safety.

Like Hagel in Game 2, Ekblad remained in Game 4.

Now, Hagel was suspended for Game 3 after serving a 5-minute major following his hit on Barkov but was on the ice in the final minutes of Game 2 when the Lightning were down 1-0.

He had the opportunity to tie up that game with the Panthers captain out and assumed to be in concussion protocol.

Hagel did not get that tying goal and the Panthers pulled out a 2-0 win.

Monday, Ekblad did tie up the game in the final minutes of the third.

With the Panthers down 2-1, Ekblad crashed the net and pounced on a loose puck in the slot left by Andrei Vasilevskiy off a Sam Reinhart shot.

Ekblad put the puck off Vasilevskiy’s pads and into the back of the net to make it 2-2.

Just 11 seconds later, Seth Jones put a wobbling point shot off the skate of Ryan McDonagh to make it 3-2 — and give the Panthers a commanding 3-1 series lead headed back to Tampa for Game 5.

Afterward, both coaches were asked about the hit.

Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper seemed sick of answering questions about questionable hits in his postgame scrums.

On Saturday, Matthew Tkachuk came in late with a shoulder to Jake Guentzel on a big hit at center ice. Tkachuk got a major but no other ramifications from the league.

After that game, Cooper trolled Florida coach Paul Maurice a little bit.

“It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,’’ Cooper said. “So, I’ll ask you — you asked me the question. Why are you asking the question? Do you have anything to say about it. If anyone here has anything to say about it, stand up. Let’s move on.’’

Maurice, who had likely seen numerous replays of the hit on Hagel by the time he met the media Monday night, tried his best to stay out of the fray.

Without mentioning it by name, Maurice did reference the illegal hit Barkov took from Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl in Game 2 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.

Draisaitl got dinged with a 2-minute minor, leading Maurice to famously comment on it afterward “this isn’t the Oprah Winfrey Show. My feelings don’t matter.’’

Monday, he was not even going there.

“I want to be consistent with what I’ve said,’’ Maurice answered. “On the Hagel [hit], I saw it and I have seen it before. Saw it last year.

“I’ll coach the players, the refs will make the calls, and the league will do what they wish. I don’t want to use this platform to start making my case on this. Everybody’s got a job to do, and I’ll stay in my lane.’’

What did the Lightning think about it?

The Panthers got good news on Niko Mikkola, who was ejected for boarding Zemgus Girgensons 19 seconds into the third.

Since he missed most of the third period, he will be able to play in Game 5.

Mikkola was fined $5,000 — the max allowed under the CBA — on Tuesday.

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE 1ST ROUND: GAME 5

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 

Panthers lead Best-of-7 Series 3-1

• When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa 
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• National TV: ESPN2
• Streaming: Panthers+
• Radio: WQAM 560-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: Tampa Bay 5, @ Florida 1; Game 4: @ Florida 4, Tampa Bay 2; Game 5 at Tampa: Wednesday (ESPN2/Scripps), 7:30; Game 6* at Florida: Friday (TBA); Game 7* at Tampa: Sunday (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.