Few rivalries in the NHL today can match the intensity of the Battle of Florida. Last night, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the Florida Panthers in a penalty-fueled game. At one point, the referee had to write down the names of all penalized players – creating one hilarious moment.
On Thursday, the Lightning and the Panthers faced off in the fourth and final regular season Battle of Florida of the season. Tampa Bay won 6-1, marking their third victory over their rival this season and their fifth straight win. The Panthers, on the other hand, suffered their fifth loss in six games and will head into the Olympic break outside of a playoff spot.
READ MORE: Jon Cooper perfectly captured the chaos of the outdoor game
147 total penalty minutes
As usual, the Battle of Florida was highly physical. A total of 147 penalty minutes were handed out during the game, 124 of which came from a single sequence in the third period. A full-line brawl broke out after Niko Mikkola delivered a hit on Nikita Kucherov. When referee Garrett Rank went to announce the penalties, he had to write them all down to keep track – a process that took about a minute, leaving TV commentators and the crowd in stitches.
Battle of Florida line brawl
Fans took to social media, stunned by the minute-long penalty Battle of Florida announcement:
“Would have been a shorter list of who was NOT in the box!” one fan wrote on X.
“I literally heard my husband belly-laughing in the living room. I knew he was watching hockey. Had to come out to find out what was so funny about a hockey game,” wrote another.
“This game is a WWE segment or some sh*t,” added a third.
You can watch the video below.
READ MORE: Nikita Kucherov’s new nickname for Andrei Vasilevskiy
