The NHL took the rare step of issuing a formal warning to the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning ahead of their Saturday night clash at Amerant Bank Arena. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, league officials contacted both organizations to demand they remain “under control” and avoid crossing the line into excessive violence following a history of volatile matchups this season.
Despite the league’s intervention, the “Battle of Florida” remained a high-intensity affair, resulting in 136 total penalty minutes. The tension boiled over late in the second period during a multi-player scrum against the boards. Officials handed out roughing penalties to every skater on the ice—including high-profile names like Seth Jones, Evan Rodrigues, and Anthony Cirelli—after Oliver Bjorkstrand sparked a melee by hauling Tampa’s A.J. Greer to the ice.
The physical play intensified in the third period when Scott Sabourin, recently recalled by the Lightning specifically for his physical presence, was ejected. Following a hit from Niko Mikkola, Sabourin retaliated with a slash and attempted to engage multiple Panthers players simultaneously. He was assessed a four-minute roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct. This latest chapter in the rivalry follows an October pre-season game that saw a modern-era record of over 300 penalty minutes, signaling that the bad blood between the cross-state rivals persists despite the league’s attempts to intervene.
