Most of Tuesday evening’s action between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay transpired late in regulation. Both clubs managed their lone goals in the third period before the Lightning won 2-1 in a shootout.
But for the first 43 minutes of the contest, a scoreless stalemate ensued.
Then, with 16:50 remaining in the third period, on-ice fireworks erupted when Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton delivered a crushing blow from behind to Lightning winger Brandon Hagel.
Hagel, possessing the puck near the blue line at the edge of the Penguins’ bench, was sent violently into the boards.
Predictably, Tampa Bay’s players on the ice, with Anthony Cirelli forming the vanguard, swarmed Clifton in defense of their teammate, who did not depart the game or suffer an apparent injury, instead skating for a total of 24 minutes, 39 seconds in his club’s road win.
“Obviously, I wouldn’t like it if my teammate got hit like that,” Clifton said. “That being said, I thought I committed to the hit and obviously, (Hagel) turned his back a little. It’s great that he’s OK. That’s first and foremost.
“I watched it live on the iPad after. I got him from behind, obviously. I feel like I committed and he kind of chipped it in instead of coming around and trying to enter the zone with the puck, which I thought he would.”
Following an extended consultation by officials, punishments were doled out — 27 minutes’ worth, to be exact.
Clifton received five-minute majors for boarding and fighting, while Cirelli received a two-minute minor for instigating, a five-minute major for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct.
Tampa Bay wound up having a three-minute power play after two minutes of four-on-four play.
As was the case with the Lightning’s seven total minutes of power-play time, the Penguins’ penalty kill came through to prevent any damage.
For Clifton, watching the Penguins’ penalty kill from the box may as well have been an eternity.
“I felt like I was sitting in there forever,” Clifton said. “Two majors is long.”
Cirelli’s decision to go after Clifton spelled the end of his participation Tuesday following 12:52 on the ice.
He spent the remainder of the third period in the penalty box as a result of his 17 minutes of infractions and did not appear in overtime.
“It was a pretty tough hit (Hagen) took,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “… It was tough, though to lose Cirelli for basically … (he) took the penalty, he got 17 minutes and (when) he took it, (there) was 16:50 left in the third. He comes back for overtime, and there’s not one whistle. So, he sat in the box the entire time.”
That said, Cirelli’s actions were applauded by teammates, even if they had to plug the gap left by their second-line center, who has scored 12 goals with 16 assists to date.
“Anthony’s one of the best teammates on our team,” Lightning forward Gage Goncalves said. “What he did was unbelievable. When guys do that, we know as a group, somebody’s got to step up. It’s kind of been our kind of, I don’t know if I want to say motto, but it’s what happened to us the whole year.”
Clifton returned to the game with 3:37 remaining in the third period, just over a minute before Evgeni Malkin scored a game-tying six-on-five goal.
There is a possibility that the 30-year-old Penguins defenseman will receive a phone call from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.
But due to his hit on Hagel not resulting in an injury, Clifton would likely only face a fine, capped at $5,000 per the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement.
Clifton, a veteran of 401 NHL games, has received one suspension in his career: two games in October of 2023 as a member of the Buffalo Sabres for an illegal check to the head of New Jersey’s Nico Hischier.