Panthers and Lightning Clash in a Wild Preseason Finale

Sunrise, Fla. — Nico Miccola was involved in a controversial moment when he assisted on a goal that seemingly put the Florida Panthers up 8-0. The catch? He had already been kicked out of the game minutes earlier, and it seems no one noticed at that moment.

The matchup between the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning took a chaotic turn on Saturday night, as Florida ended up dominating the preseason finale with a 7-0 victory. However, the score was just one part of the story. The penalty minutes piled up to an astounding 65 for both teams combined, equating to a staggering 312 minutes in total. Within that chaos, there were 13 game misconduct penalties—seven for Tampa Bay and six for Florida.

Even after the final whistle, the penalty count continued to rise. Officials seemed to take extra care to ensure every call was accurately recorded.

According to NHL stats, Florida enjoyed a remarkable 17 power-play chances during the game.

The eighth goal by Florida was later disallowed once officials discovered that Miccola had been ejected for misconduct earlier in the period. This resulted in a bit of confusion, as it had been displayed on the scoreboard that Florida led 8-0 for, well, around five minutes of actual playtime.

“Things just got out of hand. By the end, it wasn’t really hockey anymore,” said Florida forward Evan Rodriguez. It’s hard to argue with that statement, especially with the way tensions escalated throughout the match.

The parade to the penalty box kicked off early—just two minutes into the game—when Tampa Bay’s Scott Sabolin, one of six Lightning players penalized that night, aggressively pursued Florida’s Aaron Ekblad. Remarkably, Sabolin received a major penalty after being on the ice for only 19 seconds.

On a curious note, Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen shared his thoughts on the game, suggesting that “something might happen” when discussing the barrage of penalties from the Lightning side.

As the game progressed, it became apparent that the intensity was not subsiding. By midway through the third period, Miccola’s disqualification led to the disallowed eighth goal after Jesper Boqvist had initially scored. The off-ice officials had quite the job trying to keep track of these developments.

In a somewhat ironic twist, the Lightning suffered through nine penalties and ended up with no shots during the third period. Just two nights prior, they had combined for 186 penalty minutes in a different preseason bout, highlighting the ongoing feuds and physicality typical of this rivalry.

In recent years, Tampa Bay reached the Stanley Cup finals three times consecutively from 2020 to 2022, securing two championships in the process, while Florida made its mark by clinching the last two cups in their three recent finals appearances. The competition between these franchises has a rich history, and perhaps, for those who follow closely, the scoreline and intensity of this game wouldn’t be shocking at all.