The Carolina Hurricanes lost the first two games of the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals against the Florida Panthers. They are hoping to avoid a 15th straight defeat in the East Final on Saturday night. If they are to win Game 3, though, they nearly had to do it without forward Jackson Blake.

Blake left Game 3 against the Panthers with an injury. He skated near the boards as he attempted to retrieve the puck behind the net. Florida forward Eetu Luostarinen followed and delivered a crunching hit from behind. Blake appeared to go into the boards head first. He went down the tunnel, but did return for the second period of play.

On-ice officials did address the matter on the ice. Luostarinen received a five minute major for boarding as well as a game misconduct. The Panthers forward will not return to Game 3, as a game misconduct is essentially an ejection in this instance.

Fans react to brutal hit on Hurricanes' Jackson Blake

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These hits always bring about intense reactions. Players, of course, hate them. And coaching staffs want to see on-ice officials make the correct call. They aren't the only ones who get rather intense, as fans flocked to social media on Saturday night to give their reactions to this play.

Some fans did not like how the officials called this play. “Back when I started watching hockey in the early 2010s this would be a 2 min minor at most. Game has gone soft smh,” one fan wrote on Saturday night.

Other fans were pleased with the punishment handed to Luostarinen, and did not like the hit in the slightest. “Literally everyone agrees with the call except panthers fans and some how they’ll swear they are in the right,” a fan said of the discourse around the hit.

Thankfully, Blake is back on the ice for the second period of play. This hit was extremely dangerous, and we'll see how the NHL responds. For now, it's good to see the Hurricanes forward appears to have avoided a serious injury.