In a wild game that Florida Panthers’ head coach Paul Maurice called “mild”, the Ottawa Senators lost 5-0 to Florida in a game filled with penalties and escalating tensions. The game reached a boiling point in the third period when 10 players simultaneously received game misconducts, highlighting the lack of discipline from both teams.
With the benches nearly empty, the officials got the last word when assessing numerous penalties and said, “And then every player on the ice has a 10-minute misconduct.”
The Senators, trailing 3-0, had an opportunity for a comeback, but Zack MacEwen’s match penalty at the early in the game set the tone for the night. Matthew Tkachuk then vowed to go after some of the team’s stars and tempers flared. Eventually, Tkachuk had a scrap with Jake Sanderson. Tensions elevated further when Senators captain Brady Tkachuk collided with Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, sparking a series of penalties and physical altercations.
Senators head coach D.J. Smith acknowledged his team’s lack of maturity, stating, “Yeah, yeah, that’s fair. You know, I just thought at 3-0 we came up with some really good shifts.” Smith expressed disappointment in the team’s unraveling in the third period, recognizing the missed opportunity and emphasizing that such conduct is unacceptable in the NHL.
Officials Took Over in Senators Panthers Penalty-Filled Loss
As the situation escalated, the officials worked diligently to remove players from the ice, issuing 10-minute misconducts to every player on the ice, among other penalties. In the aftermath, referees handed out a total of 54 penalty minutes to the Senators and 52 to the Panthers, with Ottawa accumulating 84 penalty minutes in the game compared to Florida’s 83.
Panthers’ coach Paul Maurice acknowledged the intense nature of hockey but downplayed the severity, describing it as “fun” and attributing it to the spirited nature of the game. Despite the game gaining attention on social media for spiraling out of control, Maurice considered the end result mild. “Sometimes hockey can get like that,” he said.
Maurice humorously noting the chaos had to conduct a head count to determine the number of players left on his bench in the aftermath of the officials getting control of the game.
More must-reads: