"Sam Bennett should be suspended! He’s a POS and dirty player": Social media in frenzy as Panthers forward elbows Nikita Kucherov

The elbowing incident involving the Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov was the latest installment in the hate-filled rivalry between the two Florida-based teams.

On Saturday night, the Panthers met the Lightning at Amerant Bank Arena, a game Tampa won 3-1. But there were plenty of antics, picking up right where a penalty-filled preseason game left off this season.

But it was Sam Bennett’s elbow on Nikita Kucherov that sent NHL fans into a frenzy on social media. Let’s take a look:

“Bennett should be suspended! He’s a POS and dirty player,” a fan commented. “The Bennett special, the elbows,” this fan chimed in. “Bennett practicing a little early for the playoffs don’t ya think?” another fan weighed in.

While Sam Bennett’s egregious elbow was evident, other fans didn’t buy Nikita Kucherov’s reaction. Here’s what these fans had to say:

“My brother has hit me harder than that. Kucherov is getting up pretending to be woozy like he was clobbered lol,” a fan remarked. “What a flop,” this fan wrote. “Solid dive,” another fan posted on X.

There is no indication that the league will issue supplemental discipline, regardless of how bad it looked on the ice. Nevertheless, the league may still look into the incident to determine if there should be any forthcoming warnings.

Nikita Kucherov gets best of Sam Bennett on the ice

When the final buzzer sounded, the Lightning pulled out a 3-1 road win. The Lightning got goals from Emil Lilleberg, Jack Finley, and Zemgus Girgensons. Finley, in particular, got his first NHL goal on Saturday night.

Playoff hero Brad Marchand replied for the Panthers with a power play goal in the second period. Marchand’s tally tied the game at one after Lilleberg opened the scoring in the first period with his second of the season. Nikita Kucherov assisted on the tally.

As for Sam Bennett, he went pointless in the game, skating in nearly 19 minutes of ice time across 22 shifts. While he managed one shot on goal, he ended the night a minus-1. The veteran forward also racked up four penalty minutes.

Bennett now has three goals and five points in 18 games this season. The underwhelming offensive production has been disappointing to say the least. The club was expecting Bennett to step up in Aleksander Barkov’s absence.

Kucherov continues to be a productive player for the Lightning. He’s notched seven goals and 15 points in 15 games. The numbers are a slow start by Kucherov’s standards.

There is still time in this NHL season for both Bennett and Kucherov to live up to their usual standards as their teams look to get into the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

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Edited by Nestor Quixtan