Florida Panthers D Kulikov to Have Disciplinary Hearing Monday

Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov will have a hearing Monday for his illegal hit to the head of Tampa Bay’s Conor Sheary, NHL Player Safety announced.

Kulikov’s hit near the goal cage came just moments before a loose puck ended up on Josh Mahura’s stick.

Mahura scored, cutting Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-1 at 3:38 of the second period.

Only after the officials gathered, it was announced that Kulikov was being hit with a 5-minute penalty for the hit on Sheary.

After video review, Kulikov’s penalty stood and he was assessed a 5-minute match penalty which ended his game.

Mahura’s goal was taken off the board, and the Lightning eventually got a second goal from Steven Stamkos to take a 4-0 lead.

Florida scored twice to close the second period, made it a 4-3 game with 3:52 left on Sam Reinhart’s second goal of the game but eventually lost 5-3.

Kulikov was last suspended during the 2014-15 season in his first tour with the Panthers, getting four games for a hit on Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars which resulted in a knee injury.

“Kulikov bent severely at the waist and throws his body at Seguin’s knees, flipping Seguin and causing a significant knee injury,’’ said Patrick Burke, a player safety director at the time.

Kulikov went in for a hip check on Seguin as the Dallas forward crossed into the Florida zone.

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ON DECK

NASHVILLE PREDATORS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise 
• Streaming ONLY: ESPN+, Hulu
• Radio: WPOW 96.5 FM-2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
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• Season Series (Florida Leads 1-0) — At Nashville: Panthers 4, Predators 1 (Jan. 22). At Florida: Thursday.
• Last Season: Nashville won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 22-14-6, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday, March 23 at New York Rangers, 8 p.m. (ABC)