Panthers’ Eetu Luostarinen ejected for boarding Hurricanes’ Jackson Blake

The Florida Panthers will be without centre Eetu Luostarinen for the rest of Game 3 on Saturday, as he was assessed a five-minute minute major and a game misconduct for boarding Carolina Hurricanes‘ winger Jackson Blake.

The infraction occurred late in the first period when Luostarinen and Blake were skating behind the net, as Blake was going to play the puck. Luostarinen went to finish his check, but ended up hitting Blake hard into the boards. Luostarinen initially went to the box when it was called a two-minute minor, but after further review, it was upgraded to a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct.

At this point in time, there does not appear to be any indication that the play will receive further supplemental discipline.

Luostarinen finished the game with just a giveaway and the results of the infraction on his stat sheet, that being a hit and 15 penalty minutes in 3:30, with the Panthers up 1-0 at the time of his departure.

Blake was slow to get up after the hit, and didn’t play for the rest of the period, but he did return to the game in the second period, so it appears that he did not sustain a severe injury on the play. The Hurricanes did not score on the power play resulting from the play.

Luostarinen has had a breakout performance in the playoffs, as he was tied for the team lead in playoff scoring going into Game 3 with 4 goals and 9 assists for 13 points in 14 games. It came after a down year in the regular season where he had 9 goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 80 games.

Blake has had a solid rookie season for the Hurricanes, with 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points in 12 playoff games heading into Game 3, as well as 17 goals and 17 assists for 34 points in 80 regular season games.

With Luostarinen out of the game, the Panthers looked to A.J. Greer to replace him on their third line alongside Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand.