The Battle of Florida turned into an all-out war Thursday night as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers erupted in multiple fights during the third period.
Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel headlined the chaos with their second career fight. The two players previously squared off in the opening nine seconds of last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off round-robin game between the United States and Canada.
ABSOLUTE MADNESS IN TAMPA pic.twitter.com/CdYSdOMF9c
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 6, 2026
The brawl started when Tkachuk laid out Nikita Kucherov behind the play.
Defensemen Gustav Forsling and J.J. Moser also dropped the gloves. Forsling continued throwing body punches while Moser was on the ice in a defensive position.
How the brawl started pic.twitter.com/AUtBgWBBLD
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) February 6, 2026
Officials handed out 114 penalty minutes total from the incident.
Nine players received 10-minute misconducts: Forsling, Moser, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Donovan Sebrango, Jake Guentzel, Kucherov, Yanni Gourde, and Darren Raddysh.
Did you get all that?
The officials having trouble keeping track of all the penalties between the Panthers and Lightning. Even Paul Maurice got tossed. Oh the battle of Florida. pic.twitter.com/p6Fwqb8mk8
— Mike Cugno (@MikeCugnoCBS4) February 6, 2026
Panthers coach Paul Maurice was also ejected during the melee.
The Lightning won the game 6-1 to improve to 19-1-1 in their last 21 games. The Panthers have lost five of their previous six contests.
