With only 10 minutes left in Game 2 of the Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, the blue brigade was desperate to score that equalizer. Frustration built as they tried and failed to find a way through the Panthers’ defense. The resentment reached a fever pitch when Brandon Hagel lost his cool, slamming against the Panthers’ captain, Aleksander Barkov, who quickly met the ice head first and against the corner boards.

The result? A 5-minute penalty for interference, i.e. a massive hit on a player who wasn’t even close to the puck. “I was a little surprised it was a (major) … five minutes in a 1-0 game with eight minutes to play,” said Lightning Coach Jon Cooper. Unfortunately for Cooper, the NHL/NHLPA wasn’t done surprising Tampa Bay as they announced a phone call, to be precise, a phone hearing no player likes to receive.

NHL insider Nick Kypreos dropped the major update on Brandon Hagel. “The @NHL will schedule a phone hearing for @TBLightning Brandon Hagel on Friday once they can determine a time. Tampa and the @FlaPanthers play Gm 3 Sat, 1pm est.,” the Real Kyper and Bourne show (Sportsnet) host posted on X. Kypreos didn’t elaborate on why the NHL wants to discuss the hit.

Then again, the NHL has been coming down hard on players starting fights and committing off-puck infractions. They didn’t even spare Connor McDavid in January. Arguably the biggest star of the league served a three-game suspension for a high cross-check on Canucks’ star Connor Garland. The Lightning could be in serious trouble if Hagel meets a similar fate because he played just usual hockey for the team.

In fact, the 2024-25 regular season has been Brandon Hagel’s best one in his three seasons with Tampa Bay. Hagel finished the regular season with 90 points (35 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games. Naturally, losing such a productive forward when they’re already struggling in the series could be a massive blow to Tampa Bay. What’s worse is that they won’t even have the home advantage for the coming games.

Can Lightning strike away from home? Will Brandon Hagel escape unscathed?

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice. Well, the Tampa Bay Lightning has struck twice, and that’s not a good thing. Why? Well, because the team that topped the list of most regular season (2024-25) goals at 292 has managed to score only two against their divisional rivals in two games. Meanwhile, they’ve conceded eight goals in the first two games of the 7-game series.

The Panthers were strong defensively in the first game but put on a masterclass in Game 2. Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky only had to pull the stops on 19 shots across three periods. In fact, the Panthers seemed to have found the answer to Brandon Hagel and Co.’s power play, too. Pull up the stats, and you’ll find that Tampa was fifth in power plays during the regular season.

Yet, they couldn’t score a single goal during Game 2 despite having this year’s Art Ross Trophy winner, Nikita Kucherov. Now, things may get only harder for the Lightning, as they’ll take on the Panthers in their backyard at Sunshine, Florida. Besides having a majority of the crowd cheering for their rivals, they’ll have to deal with an arguably stronger Panthers defense. Not to mention, a very, very unhappy team whose captain may or may not hit the ice for Game 3. That’s a scenario set for the mat, not cold hard ice.

Remember Hagel vs Tkachuk? Now, do we want history repeating itself? The Panthers have a burly and snaring Brad Marchand on their side too. So prospects aren’t really looking up for the Lightning. The Panthers line-up for Game 3 looks even more deadly. How, you may ask? The defending champions’ star defenseman, Aaron Ekblad, will play Game 3. Game 2 was the final one in Ekblad’s 20-game suspension handed to him by the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. Now, only time will tell what happens to Brandon Hagel and whether Tampa Bay can register its first win of the series.

Either way, we wouldn’t want to be in the Lightning line-up for 26 April. What about you? Sound off in the comments.