The Florida Panthers and the New Jersey Devils just might be the NHL’s newest rivalry — an unexpected one at that.
Less than a week ago, the teams faced off at New Jersey’s Prudential Center in a game that saw Panthers captain Alexsander Barkov leave with seconds to go in the first period, after taking a crosscheck to the left leg courtesy of Devils captain Nico Hischier.
It was announced Barkov would not return in the second period, and with their captain out, his teammates spent the rest of the game going after Hischier whenever possible. The Panthers ultimately pulled off a 4-2 win without one of their star forwards.
Two days later, head coach Paul Maurice announced Barkov was day-to-day as a result of the injury. It was considered good news as there were originally fears it could be much worse for the 27-year-old forward.
Fast forward another two days, and Barkov inevitably did not dress when the two teams met again Wednesday in Sunrise, Fla.
While the Panthers may have had time to cool off their anger over Hischier’s play last week, they clearly hadn’t.
With less than a minute left to go on Wednesday night — in a game the Devils ultimately won 4-2 — Matthew Tkachuk went after Hischier.
A scrum broke out following the Devils’ empty net goal and Tkachuk took the opportunity upon himself to get a little bit of payback for his teammate.
Grabbing Hischier, Tkachuk was able to get some shots in before the officials eventually broke the pair apart. Tkatchuk was then tossed out for the remaining seconds of the matchup.
We’ll see if the two teams have finally cooled off before their next meeting on March 18.
