Do you recall when Paul Maurice mentioned, “I didn’t feel that at all. I thought it was really, really quiet. I didn’t feel the intensity of the hitting was much there was a different kind of puck control; there wasn’t as much time on the walls.” Yep, this is from that same game where Matthew Tkachuk delivered a big hit on Jake Guentzel from the Tampa Bay Lightning. He ended up getting a five-minute major penalty for interference and a game misconduct, too.

But that’s not all! There were plenty of talks about whether Chucky might face a game suspension, similar to what happened with Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel, who had to sit out for Game 3. So, you won’t believe this! We’ve got some good news for the Panthers!

David Pagnotta just shared on X that “For those curious, there will be no hearing for Matthew Tkachuk by NHL Player Safety for his hit on Jake Guentzel in Saturday’s game.” So, this isn’t exactly the news that Tampa Bay fans were hoping to hear on a Sunday. There were a lot of rumors going around about Matthew Tkachuk possibly getting suspended, but those have all been put to rest.

The hockey forward will be on the Panthers roster for Game 4. Definitely a letdown for the Lightning and their fans. What’s the reason for that? They were kind of anticipating a similar reaction from the NHL officials since Brandon Hagel ended up with a one-game suspension for hitting the Panthers’ captain, especially since the puck wasn’t even in his possession. But with everything going on between the two teams, it’s clear that their rivalry is really heating up.

In these matches, you can see that the fans, players, and even the coaches are really invested. So, Maurice might have brushed off the comments about Matthew Tkachuk, but Jon Cooper chimed in, stating, “The only players we hit are the ones with pucks.” So, you won’t believe this! He said this with a huge grin on his face. There are definitely a lot of mind games happening between the two rivals! Did you know that the recent loss to Tampa Bay has affected Florida’s odds a bit?

It affected Matthew Tkachuk’s Florida Panthers

MoneyPuck on X mentioned, “With Florida losing today, Leafs are Stanley Cup favourites for now.” Out of nowhere, the Toronto Maple Leafs have pulled ahead of the Florida Panthers. So, it looks like Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs have a 14% shot at snagging that Stanley Cup, while the Panthers are sitting at 11.7% after their Game 3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Yeah, the Maple Leafs are definitely doing pretty well, no question about it. Toronto had taken a strong 3-0 lead in the series, winning the first three games. Game 2 was particularly exciting, ending in a 3-2 overtime victory thanks to Max Domi’s game-winning goal. But the Senators managed to avoid elimination in Game 4, pulling off a 4-3 overtime win, thanks to Jake Sanderson, who scored the game-winning goal at 17:42 of the extra period.

So, this win was pretty exciting for Ottawa! It was their first playoff victory since that 2017 Eastern Conference Final, and now they’re heading back to Toronto for a Game 5. Well, I guess only time will tell how they’ll do against each other.