Panthers’ Sam Bennett won’t be suspended for elbowing Anthony Stolarz

Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett will be on the ice in Game 2 when his team tries to level their second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. The NHL, however, is reportedly not slapping Bennett with a suspension or any supplemental disciplinary action, according to Darren Dreger of TSN and Chris Johnston of The Athletic.

“No supplemental discipline for Bennett. The Maple Leafs won’t be surprised. Nor will they focus on anything other than playing hard in game 2 and trying to win the series. Meanwhile, Stolarz is resting. Could have an update later today,” Dreger shared in a post on X (formerly Twitter) along with Johnston’s separate but similar update.

Bennett is at the center of controversy after he was seen in video replays elbowing Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz in the head in the second period of the series opener at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto Monday night.

Stolarz, who won a Stanley Cup with the Panthers in 2024 as the chief backup to netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, managed to stay in front of the net for a couple of minutes before eventually getting pulled. He was later taken by an ambulance to a hospital for further evaluation, but has since been discharged.

Before he left Game 1, Stolarz allowed a goal on nine shots faced from the Panthers. He was replaced between the pipes by Joseph Woll, who gave up three goals on 20 shots faced, including Bennett’s score with under two minutes left in regulation. Nevertheless, Toronto escaped with a 5-4 victory, thanks in large part to a three-goal first period.

Meanwhile, fans have a lot to say about this development (or non development):

“Absolute joke league,” another comment read.

One fan called out the NHL’s Department of Player Safety: “Of course no discipline. @NHLPlayerSafety is embarassing.”

Some X users want the Maple Leafs to seek retribution with help from enforcer Ryan Reaves.

“The bar is set. Send out Reaves game 2 to do one job,” said a fan.

That sentiment was echoed by another social media commenter: “Craig Berube is the coach of the Leafs and he has Ryan Reaves sitting around in the locker room. Berube is going to play Reaves and give him one job.”

From a different commenter: “Not shocking. However for a league trying to eliminate brain trauma from its game. Maybe someone should look into exactly how many brain injuries Bennett has ‘accidentally’ caused.”

The Panthers will look to even the series at 1-1 on Wednesday before heading home for Game 3 and Game 4.