The debate over Matthew Tkachuk’s hit on Jake Guentzel during Game 3 of the series between the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning spilled into Saturday night. First, Lightning head coach John Cooper clapped back at his counterpart on the Panthers bench using Paul Maurice's own words during the postgame media availability.

The Department of Player Safety also determined that Tkachuk's hit was less forceful than the one delivered by Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2, per Kaplan. Hagel’s hit resulted in a one-game suspension.

Florida star forward Matthew Tkachuk will not be suspended for the Panthers' matchup with the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series in Sunrise,

In the third period of the Panthers' 2-0 win over the Lightning, Barkov was racing Hagel and Tampa defenseman Ryan McDonagh into the corner for a loose puck. McDonagh won the race

Brandon Hagel will miss Game 3 of the Lightning's first-round playoff series after getting suspended for his late hit that knocked Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov out of Game 2.