Florida Panthers forward Jesse Puljundari got a two -game bar on Thursday for an illegal control by the head of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Mitchell Chaffee.
Puljundarvi had a disciplinary hearing with the NHL on Thursday after evaluating a match penalty in Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to the lightning strike.
His hit at Chaffee came with 11:32 in the third period. Chaffee took the puck in the offensive zone before being blinded with a shaft to the head of Puljundari. Chaffee wrinkled to the ice as a scrum followed between the teams.
With Panther’s regular season over, Puljujarvis shut off will cover the first two games in Florida’s playoffs with The Lightning. Game 1 is Tuesday and game 2 is next Thursday, both in Tampa, FLA.
Pulundarvi, 26, played in only his fifth match with Florida after joining the team’s AHL club on a professional test in February. He played in 26 matches for Pittsburgh Penguins before ending with his contract. He has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the season in 31 matches.
The previous No. 4 total choice of Edmonton in the draft 2016 has 128 points (58 goals, 70 assists) in 387 career games with Oilers (2016-23), Carolina Hurricanes (2023), Penguins (2023-25) and Panthers.
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