2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Ryan Lomberg Shutdown for Remainder of Panthers-Bruins Series
SUNRISE — Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice said he was not going to give out specific injury updates during the playoffs but made an exception before Friday’s Game 6 agains the visiting Bruins.
Ryan Lomberg will not play the rest of this series, Maurice said.
Lomberg had to be attended to by Florida head athletic trainer Dave DiNapoli after a hard hit from Pavel Zacha in the first period of Game 4 on Sunday afternoon.
Although he came off the ice and was attended to in the room, Lomberg returned in the second period but was injured after coming back.
Lomberg was initially suspected to have some sort of head or neck injury, but that is not the case.
FHN has learned that Lomberg sustained a hand injury after returning to Game 4.
It is not known if Lomberg had surgery, but he was hiding his hand under his coat when spotted in the locker room on Friday night.
“We’ll move him from day-to-day to ‘he won’t play the rest of the series’,” Maurice said earlier that morning.
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Lomberg had become a target for Boston players and its fans for his aggressive play throughout the series — especially in Game 2 when he stared down Tomas Nosek during a verbal altercation with Matthew Tkachuk and Eric Staal.
This came after Nosek’s high hit on Staal which led to some personal trash talk between Nosek, Staal and Tkachuk.
Although Lomberg did not immediately get on the ice when play resumed, he did go on for what turned out to be the final shift of the game — and he ended up getting in an altercation with Trent Frederic.
After the two got together and traded punches, they fell to the ice with Lomberg getting his forearm around Frederic’s neck as they wrestled on the ice before being pulled apart.
Both players were given misconducts and their melee marked the end of the game as the exasperated officials sent everyone home with three seconds left on the clock.
“That stuff is going to happen in the playoffs when you get into battles with other guys and, well, that’s just the way it went down,” Lomberg said before Game 3.
“It is the playoffs. Kind of standard.”
FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS, ROUND 1
BOSTON BRUINS (ATL1) VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS (WC2)
GAME 6 (Boston Leads 3-2)
- When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
- Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
- TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, TNT
- Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
- Regular Season Series (Tied 2-2): @Boston 5, Florida 3 (Oct. 17); @Florida 5, Boston 2 (Nov. 23); @Boston 7, Florida 3 (Dec. 19); @Florida 4, Boston 3 OT (Jan. 28)
- Last Season: Boston won 2-1
- All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 60-38-6, 6 ties
- Playoff History (Florida leads 1-0): Panthers 4-1, 1996 (first round)
- First Round Schedule — Game 1: @Boston 3, Florida 1; Game 2: Florida 6, @Boston 3; Game 3: Boston 4, @Florida 2; Game 4: Boston 6, @Florida 2; Game 5: Florida 4, @Boston 3 (OT); Game 6: at Florida, Friday, 7:30 (TNT, BSF); Game 7*: at Boston, Sunday. (*) — If Necessary.