The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning series intensified on Saturday after a controversial hit involving Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk and Lightning's Jake Guentzel during Game 3. The Lightning earned a 5-1 victory at Amerant Bank Arena to cut Florida’s series lead to 2–1, but the late-game incident drew much of the postgame attention.

The 5-1 victory was pivotal for the Lightning's playoff hopes, as they were in danger of falling behind 3-0 in the Battle of Florida.At the center of the Lightning and Panthers contest was Tampa Bay forward Jake Guentzel.

"The bigger the moment, the bigger he plays," teammate Luke Glendening said of Guentzel's ability to elevate his play in the postseason.

In the third period of the Panthers' 2-0 win over the Lightning, Barkov was racing Hagel and Tampa defenseman Ryan McDonagh into the corner for a loose puck. McDonagh won the race

Brandon Hagel will miss Game 3 of the Lightning's first-round playoff series after getting suspended for his late hit that knocked Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov out of Game 2.

The Florida Panthers had two of their best players available for Game 3 of their playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday