NHL Set to Decide Brandon Hagel’s Fate After Controversial Hit on Florida Panthers Captain

The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning just played Game 2 of Round 1, and the Battle of Florida is already living up to its name. After taking a huge 6-2 loss to the Panthers, the Tampa Bay Lightning struggled to find an answer in Game 2 as well. The frustration reached fever pitch when Brandon Hagel slammed the Panthers’ captain, Aleksander Barkov, near the corner.

What’s more? Barkov was nowhere near the puck when Hagel delivered the smashing shoulder charge. The hit sent the Panthers player flying into the boards, and Hagel drew a major penalty just 10 minutes left in the third period. “I was a little surprised it was a (major) … five minutes in a 1-0 game with eight minutes to play, nine minutes to play,” said Tampa Bay coach John Cooper. Unfortunately, the surprises didn’t end there for the Lightning.

NHL insider Nick Kypreos had some particularly worrying news for Lightning fans, as he dropped a 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.

It seems the hit was big enough that the NHL decided a five-minute penalty may not be enough. The decision came after fans expressed their fury, and Panthers players their anger, despite Tampa Bay losing the match 2-0. Things could get precarious if the NHL/NHLPA decides to take further action against the Lightning forward, who’s been great for his team in the regular season.

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. #RealKyperandBourne https://t.co/5rcowO27qH

— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) April 25, 2025

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?

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice. Well, the Tampa Bay Lightning have 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 stop 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.

Well, that’s because 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.

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