The latest episode of The Hockey Show has dropped. This week, hosts Roy Bellamy and David Dwork were joined by Adnan Virk of NHL on Prime and the NHL Network for his monthly visit. The trio discussed the tightening playoff race in the Eastern Conference,

NEWARK—New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier and Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk have history. And that history was revisited on Tuesday night amid the Devils’ 2-1 shootout loss to the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Tensions boiled over Tuesday night at Prudential Center as the Florida Panthers defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in a shootout.

Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk found himself in the middle of a fracas — surprise! — during the third period of Tuesday’s game against the Devils.

Matthew Tkachuk had himself an excitable night with the Florida Panthers on Friday night. Tkachuk spent a good portion of Florida’s 3-2 shootout win against the Penguins off of the ice, officials slapping him with a 2-minute unsportsmanlike penalty as well as a 10-minute misconduct in the second period.

Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (27) and points (51), while Matthew Tkachuk is second in both points (40) and assists (26). Recently named the “Athlete of the Year” in his native Finland, captain Aleksander Barkov ranks third in points (38) and first in assists (27).

Hischier never saw him coming. Tkachuk hit Hischier high and sent him onto his back. ESPN play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen called it “a big, freight-train hit,” and analyst and former Devils defenseman PK Subban screamed, “Whoa!” on the call. Then all hell broke loose.

Dylan Larkin scored two goals and the surging Detroit Red Wings beat the Florida Panthers 5-2. Larkin, Jonatan Berggren and Patrick Kane had power-play goals for Detroit, which also got a goal from Marco Kasper.

In any sport, measuring yourself against the champion is commonplace, simply because the champion is a model of consistency and excellence. Therefore, it makes your performance against them the best barometer of your franchise’s progress toward the ultimate goal: championships.

The Ducks, who had been goal-starved on this trek before scoring three in a shootout loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday, face Florida twice in a row in a home-and-home set that begins Saturday.

Detroit is looking to respond after a 6-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, which ended its season-high seven-game winning streak. Two goals from Vladimir Tarasenko and one goal from Lucas Raymond saw the Red Wings pull within 4-3 just before the midway mark of the third period, but Detroit ultimately couldn’t find the equalizer.