The physicality and nastiness of the second-round series between the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs has been steadily increasing.
During Sunday’s Game 4, there were several big hits, some that led to penalties and some that did not.
A high elbow from Dmitry Kulikov that caught Mitch Marner in the head went uncalled and drew the ire of Toronto’s bench.
Marner, to his credit, seemed fine and continued on in the game.
Florida’s Evan Rodrigues left the game early after taking a hit from Oliver Ekman-Larsson during the third period that initially was called a major penalty before officials downgraded it to a minor. Nevertheless, it was one of several nasty hits that the Cats and Leafs were laying on one another.
Later in the game, as the clock was about to expire on Florida’s 2-0 victory that evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece, the puck was being tied up in the corner to the right of Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
As players battled for the puck, Toronto’s Max Domi lined up Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov and drilled him from behind and into the boards, a very dangerous play.
Domi received a five-minute major for boarding at the 20:00 mark of the game.
It took the NHL Department of Player Safety just over 12 hours to come to a decision regarding the hit, fining Domi $5,000, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement.
The bad blood between the two teams will have a couple days to simmer, as Game 5 isn’t until Wednesday night in Toronto.
With the series now a best-of-three, there should be no shortage of intensity, physicality and drama.
We'll see if either team responds to the nasty hits laid out during Game 4.
Buckle up!
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA
Panthers' Paul Maurice Responds To Max Domi's Dirty Hit
Sam Bennett Makes Perfect Comment After Panthers' Game 4 Win
Bobrovsky, Panthers shut down Maple Leafs in Game 4 to even series at 2 games apiece
Matthew Tkachuk 'feeling physically great' after missing most of season's second half with injury