On Saturday during Game 3 in Sunrise, Matthew Tkachuk delivered an open-ice hit to Lightning's Jake Guentzel midway through the third period. The hit happened moments after Guentzel passed the puck over to forward Anthony Cirelli.
Tkachuk made eye contact with the puck as Cirelli carried it up the ice to score into an empty net. He then skated in from Guentzel’s blind side, and delivered a hard check, knocking him on to the ice.
Despite drawing a five-minute major for interference on the hit, which was the same penalty that led to Brandon Hagel’s one game suspension on Friday, Tkachuk is not expected to receive further punishment from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.
“Obviously, the timing of the hit, it’s 4-1 and we’re about to make it 5-1 and Tkachuk goes out of his way to hit Guentzel,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said on Sunday. “But that’s what it is. We can’t control what the league thinks is interference and what’s suspendable and not suspendable. So, we’re just gonna fight through that.”
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the NHL determined the force of Tkachuk’s hit was not at the same level as Hagel’s in Game 2, there was no head contact, and Guentzel touched the puck prior to the collision.