Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov will have a hearing Monday for his illegal hit to the head of Tampa Bay’s Conor Sheary, NHL Player Safety announced.
Kulikov’s hit near the goal cage came just moments before a loose puck ended up on Josh Mahura’s stick.
Mahura scored, cutting Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-1 at 3:38 of the second period.
Only after the officials gathered, it was announced that Kulikov was being hit with a 5-minute penalty for the hit on Sheary.
After video review, Kulikov’s penalty stood and he was assessed a 5-minute match penalty which ended his game.
Mahura’s goal was taken off the board, and the Lightning eventually got a second goal from Steven Stamkos to take a 4-0 lead.
Florida scored twice to close the second period, made it a 4-3 game with 3:52 left on Sam Reinhart’s second goal of the game but eventually lost 5-3.
Kulikov was last suspended during the 2014-15 season in his first tour with the Panthers, getting four games for a hit on Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars which resulted in a knee injury.
“Kulikov bent severely at the waist and throws his body at Seguin’s knees, flipping Seguin and causing a significant knee injury,’’ said Patrick Burke, a player safety director at the time.
Kulikov went in for a hip check on Seguin as the Dallas forward crossed into the Florida zone.
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