Panthers make decision on Aleksander Barkov for Game 3 against Lightning
Florida Panthers captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov will play in Game 3 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday after missing the end of Game 2 following a late hit away from the puck by Lightning forward Brandon Hagel.
Barkov was in his customary spot on the Panthers’ top line with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart on his wings during warmups ahead of the game at Amerant Bank Arena.
The hit that sidelined Barkov in Game 2 came with 10:09 left in regulation of Florida’s eventual 2-0 win. Hagel was handed a five-minute major penalty for interference on the play, and Barkov went to the dressing room under his own power but did not return to the game. Hagel on Friday was subsequently suspended one game for the hit.
The NHL’s explanation for the suspension stated that despite the fact that Barkov was “never in possession of the puck on this play and is therefor not eligible to be checked in any manner,” Hagel “loads up and delivers a high, hard body check that makes some head contact on Barkov.”
“While we understand Hagel’s argument that he is approaching the play as if Barkov will play the puck, the onus is on Hegel to ensure that the player he is hitting is eligible to be checked,” the explanation continued. “Here, Barkov is not eligible to be hit, and Hagel still intentionally delivers an extremely forceful body check to an unsuspecting opponent with sufficient force for supplemental discipline.”
While Barkov returned to the lineup, there was one slight change with Florida’s forward lines. Evan Rodrigues moved to the left wing on the Panthers’ second line with Sam Bennett at center and Matthew Tkachuk at right wing, while Mackie Samoskevich is now the right wing on the fourth line with Jesper Boqvist at left wing and Nico Sturm at center.
On the defense, Uvis Balinskis is a healthy scratch following the return of Aaron Ekblad, who is eligible to play for the first time since March 8 after serving a 20-game suspension.
The full lineup...
Forward lines
Carter Verhaeghe-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Brad Marchand
Jesper Boqvist-Nico Sturm-Mackie Samoskevich
Defense pairs
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt-Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Game 5 start time
If the Panthers-Lightning series extends beyond four games, the start time for the potential Game 5 of will be 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Tampa’s Amalie Arena. The game would be televised nationally on ESPN2 as well as Scripps Sports locally.
This story was originally published April 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM.
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