The Battle of Florida? Oh, it’s living up to every ounce of the hype and chaos we dreamed of! Game 4 is already off and running, riding the wild waves that Game 3 stirred up. Tampa Bay Lightning? Yeah, they absolutely flexed their muscles last time out, smashing the Panthers 5-1 and reminding everyone why you never count them out. Jake Guentzel was out there cooking—dropping a goal and two slick assists—while Brayden Point, Nick Paul, Luke Glendening, and Anthony Cirelli joined the party too. Andrei Vasilevskiy built a brick wall in front of the net with 33 massive saves, while Nikita Kucherov was straight-up dealing magic with three assists.

Even though Matthew Tkachuk lit the lamp early for Florida, Tampa snatched the script and rewrote it with pure domination, leaving the Panthers scrambling for answers. Fast forward to Game 4, and Tampa’s momentum hasn’t missed a beat! After back-to-back daggers to the net, the Lightning are now up 2-1, and the Panthers are desperately trying to catch their breath. With those back-to-back strikes from Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak causing all kinds of buzz, the question right now is did they break some kind of an NHL playoffs record?

Well, ESPN took to X to share that those were “the fastest two goals in Tampa Bay playoff history,” as they also dropped a fiery clip straight from the Bolts’ bench! They caught Tampa’s coach, Jon Cooper, absolutely losing it in the best way possible after his squad went full beast mode. And honestly? You could feel the energy blasting right through the screen—Cooper looked like he was ready to lace up and hop on the ice himself, pure adrenaline-style!

But hold up — as everyone’s riding that high and the arena’s practically shaking with the madness, there’s a little question floating in the chaos. Those two goals? Lightning quick, no doubt. But was it actually the fastest back-to-back goal explosion in Stanley Cup Playoffs history, or are we just caught up in the thunderstorm hype?

So, the verdict’s in — and nahhh, it wasn’t the fastest show ever on ice. As much as Tampa’s double punch felt like pure lightning bottled up, the real record still chills way back in history with Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens, who went beast mode during the 1918-19 NHL Finals. The guy dropped the goal in just five seconds—yeah, five—absolute madness straight out of a time machine!

Now, zooming back to today’s chaos, the Bolts’ electric moment placed them at 7th on the list of NHL teams with the fastest back-to-back goals in playoffs history, tying them with the likes of the 1941-42 Chicago Blackhawks and the 1971-72 Boston Bruins. And fun fact, Jake Guentzel currently holds the 5th spot on the individual leaderboard after pulling a similar magic trick for the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2017-18 first round, bagging two goals in just 10 seconds. So honestly? Tampa’s fiery flash fits right into that wild, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kinda legacy. Not the ultimate king of speed, but still, quite the feat, considering it came after a thunderous hit.

The hit on Tampa Bay Lightning forward that started the onslaught

The Tampa Bay Lightning had to roll into Game 3 without one of their big guns, Brandon Hagel, chilling on the sidelines after getting slapped with a suspension for that spicy hit on Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov. Florida ended up snatching that win, but veteran defenseman Aaron Ekblad? Oh, he was clearly hunting for more than just a scoreboard W. Fast-forward to Monday night: chaos broke out as the squads wrestled for a loose puck along the boards. Hagel flipped the puck away from the sideboards, but just as he did, Ekblad came flying in and dropped a brutal forearm straight to his head, forcing him to go down the tunnel for a concussion evaluation.

Of course, this fiery moment wasn’t just random. It’s been building, game after game. Hagel’s earlier hit on Barkov didn’t even clip the captain’s head but had plenty of late, dangerous vibes—and yeah, it did look like Hagel left the ice a little when delivering that shot. Tensions between the Panthers and Lightning have been bubbling over for years now, almost like a Florida summer storm ready to pop off. Tampa used to be the NHL’s blueprint for greatness with two Stanley Cups and four Final trips since 2015, but lately, Florida’s been stealing some serious spotlight. After a heartbreaker loss in the 2023 Finals, the Panthers came roaring back to lift the Cup in 2024 after an epic battle against the Edmonton Oilers.

Right now, Tampa’s clinging to a 2-1 lead heading into the final period of Game 4, but make no mistake — this game could light the fuse for the whole rest of the series. The NHL already had to step in after Hagel’s hit, and you better believe they’re going to be side-eyeing Ekblad’s not-so-subtle forearm smash from Monday night too.