Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Monday for throwing an illegal check to the head of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Conor Sheary.
The incident occurred at the 3:38 mark of the second period of Saturday’s game between the Panthers and Lightning at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL. Kulikov was assessed a match penalty on the play.
The penalty negated a goal scored immediately thereafter by Panthers defenseman Josh Mahura. After a review initiated by the league’s command center, the goal was overturned and Kulikov was ejected from the game.
Sheary returned to the game after missing less than half a period and ultimately logged 9:29 of total ice time. The Lightning defeated the Panthers by a 5–3 final score.
Kulikov, 33, skated in just 4:33 of Saturday’s game before being assessed the match penalty. He added 15 penalty minutes to his stat line for a new total of 59 on the season.
The Panthers originally selected Kulikov with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. The Lipetsk, Russia product spent the first seven seasons of his NHL career with the Panthers before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 2016.
After one season in Buffalo, Kulikov spent time with the Winnipeg Jets, New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks, and Pittsburgh Penguins before returning to the Panthers last summer on a one-year contract.
Through 936 career games over parts of 15 seasons with eight different NHL teams, Kulikov has collected 45 goals and 230 points. He’s added eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 29 career playoff contests.
The Panthers are slated to return to action on Thursday, March 21 to take on the Nashville Predators for a home contest in Sunrise at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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