RALEIGH, N.C. — Aaron Ekblad shrugged it off. Paul Maurice referred to as it “somebody else’s problem,” whereas casually taking a drink from a cup.
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Roughly 12 hours had handed since Florida’s Brad Marchand and Carolina’s Shayne Gostisbehere locked up in a punch-throwing tussle in the course of the Panthers’ Sport 1 win within the Jap Convention closing, ending with Marchand being escorted to the locker room tunnel whereas barking again towards heart ice.
It was a part of a testy third-period sequence through which Marchand made a run at Gostisbehere alongside the boards and Gostisbehere retaliated by firing a puck instantly into Marchand from his personal blue line.
The reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers mentioned all the precise issues Wednesday in turning down the temperature from that scrap.
“I mean, it happens, it is what it is,” mentioned Ekblad, the defenseman who scored the second of Florida’s two tone-setting first-period targets.
It’s unclear if that temper will final via the puck drop for Thursday’s Sport 2 of the best-of-seven collection, although.
“Maybe, I don’t know,” Carolina ahead Seth Jarvis mentioned. “I’m sure it’ll be just as physical as it was. We’ve seen a lot of each other the last couple of years. I mean, it’s playoffs now. Everyone’s battling. But I don’t see anything too extra coming out of it.”
The Panthers gained 5-2 on Tuesday night time to open the rematch of the 2023 convention closing swept by Florida with 4 one-goal wins, together with a four-overtime epic. They’d clinched their third straight journey to the convention closing by profitable a Sport 7 in Toronto solely two days earlier and visited a group that was 5-0 at residence within the playoffs however by no means trailed and continued their postseason mastery of Carolina.
It marked their sixth highway win of the playoffs with a efficiency displaying off Florida’s championship mettle. But it additionally stood out for the third-period scrap between Marchand — lengthy referred to as a gifted participant with a knack for agitation earlier than his trade-deadline arrival from Boston — and Gostisbehere in a 4-1 recreation.
Gostisbehere deliberately capturing the puck at Marchand removed from the online was paying homage to Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson doing the same factor to Anaheim’s Scott Niedermayer on the finish of the second interval of Sport 4 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Ultimate with the rating tied at 2. That incited a scrum, through which Alfredsson sucker-punched Travis Moen.
The Geese went on to win that night time 3-2, then in Sport 5 to hoist the Cup.
This sequence started with Marchand attempting to hit Gostisbehere alongside the boards with about 12 minutes left after the Carolina defenseman had gotten rid of the puck. Andrei Svechnikov quickly despatched it again to a trailing Gostisbehere as Carolina began to clear the zone, and Gostisbehere discovered Marchand skating instantly in entrance of him.
So he fired a shot from his personal blue line, sending the puck into Marchand’s left elbow.
The 2 instantly locked up, first by crossing excessive sticks after which flailing about whereas throwing punches and grabs at one another with Marchand having dropped gloves however Gostisbehere nonetheless sporting his. By the point officers separated the 2, they have been down on the ice, and Marchand made a short cease within the penalty field for double-minor roughing penalties earlier than being despatched off with a game-misconduct penalty.
Marchand didn’t speak to reporters afterward nor Wednesday, leaving Gostisbehere — assessed a two-minute roughing penalty — to explain a “just heated” alternate.
“I was pretty off,” Gostisbehere mentioned. “He tried to take a run at me. I shot the puck at him. It is what it is. Had a little tuffle.”
Requested for his impression of the incident afterward, Maurice demurred by saying, “Yeah, I’ve obtained one, I’m conserving that to myself,” then offered nothing more Wednesday.
Ekblad, meanwhile, sounded almost casual when asked his thoughts about a player firing a puck at another.
“I mean, we block shots all the time, so what’s the difference?” Ekblad said, prompting laughter from reporters.
“Intent?” the reporter asked.
“Intent or not,” Ekblad said, “it hurts the same.”
Still, the ending indicated the incident wasn’t so easily dismissed for the Panthers. In the final seconds, forward Jonah Gadjovich skated over as Gostisbehere played the puck a final time to deliver a bump and a few words, followed by linemate A.J. Greer skating in with a harder shove.
That had officials stepping in a final time after the horn to intervene in a shove-filled gathering between Gadjovich and Carolina’s Jesperi Kotkaniemi, with Greer and Hurricanes rookie defenseman Scott Morrow on the periphery.
It could offer a reminder to the Hurricanes to avoid unnecessary scraps when it’s hard enough just to beat the reigning Cup champs. That lesson was available early when top-line center Sebastian Aho being called for a first-period retaliation penalty after being popped twice by Florida’s Anton Lundell, a call that set up Florida’s power-play scoring start.
“Retaliation penalties are not going to get it done,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “So you realize you are going to have a whole lot of alternatives to retaliate and also you simply cannot. We did a fairly good job with it, but it surely simply takes one. That is my level. You’ll be able to’t have that one as a result of that basically places you behind the sport, and now it is totally different.
“It’s understanding that and I think finding a way not to let that get to you. … You know, stick to what is gonna win us games.”
Hockey Author Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.
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