Hurricanes Player Gets Away With Casually Kneeing Panthers Goalie in the Head

The Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes faced off in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs East Final on Tuesday night. Florida had a 3-1 lead in the second period when Carolina's Andrei Svechnikov skated in front of the net and made contact with Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky's head.

No penalty was called, and plenty of people on social media thought that Svechnikov had intentionally tried to hit Bobrovsky with a knee, similar to what Florida's Sam Bennett did to Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz in the last round.

Here's video, with a healthy helping of angry fans:

Sure looks like Svechnikov knew exactly what he was doing when he hit Bobrovsky in the head. pic.twitter.com/vKhgm5f73s
— David Dwork (@DavidDwork) May 21, 2025

This looks like an intentional knee to Bobrovsky’s head by Svechnikov, and should definitely be looked at.

I don’t see how that’s any different from the fly-by elbow to the head plays that we see earn suspensions regularly. pic.twitter.com/m1XIjHFYiB
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) May 21, 2025

Despite the hit, Bobrovsky was able to shake it off and continue. While he had given up 28 total goals in the first two rounds of the postseason, Bobrovsky only gave up four goals over the final four games of the Panthers series against Toronto, with Florida winning three of those games.