Tampa Bay Lightning Star Brandon Hagel Learns His Fate After Hit On Aleksander Barkov

Despite coming into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as favourites in the Battle of Florida, the Tampa Bay Lightning have now dropped their first two games and find themselves in an 0-2 hole as this series shifts to the road for them.

Unfortunately, they may potentially have to do it without star forward Brandon Hagel, who was handed a five-minute major for this hit on Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in their 2-0 defeat in Game 2.

Unsurprisingly, the NHL's Department of Player Safety were quick to react, and on Friday morning, they announced that Hagel will have a hearing on Friday to decide his fate moving forward.

One common theme in the comments on social media has been that yes, this hit was illegal due to the fact that Barkov never had the puck, but as for the hit itself, it's not the most egregious that we've ever seen.

It seems that George Parros and the NHL's DoPS agree with the fans verdict, as the official punishment has now been handed down, with Hagel set to miss one game in this crucial Battle of Florida series.

This is a huge loss for the Tampa Bay Lightning, as they need to win one if not both games away from home to get back into this series, and with Florida now healthy and rolling, this is a team that could go on yet another deep run in 2025.

As for the NHL's Department of Player Safety, it's tough to tell what will come out of a hearing now, as they have been immensely inconsistent this season, but regardless of what call they made on Hagel, fans on social media certainly appeared to be split on it.