Pat McAfee backs 'scrappy’ Panthers to respond against Hurricanes in Game 2 over Brad Marchand incident

Just two days after crushing the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 7 of the second round, the Florida Panthers were right back to it against the Carolina Hurricanes in Round 3 on Tuesday night.

The Cats landed the first punch in Game 1, beating the Hurricanes 5-2 in Carolina, already casting a seed of doubt in the heads of their opponents. Florida swept Carolina in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023, and the start to this 2025 rematch feels awfully similar.

It didn't take long for frustration to set in for the Canes in the series opener. Down 4-1 in the third period, defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere took his anger out on Brad Marchand, appearing to intentionally shoot the puck at him. Marchand, of course, took exception to it and went after him and started a scrum.

Surprisingly, the 37-year-old received the extra two minutes for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, ending his night, even though Gostisbehere started it all. On Wednesday, Pat McAfee of ESPN dove into the incident and shared the clip with his take on X (formerly Twitter).

"The Florida Panthers are a team that's very scrappy. This guy is not the guy for the Hurricanes. He just got a little bit in his feelings and thought he was gonna do something. I think Game 2 is gonna start with the Panthers saying, What was that? And then, Marchy let the refs know that they don't know ball either," McAfee said.

While Marchand received 14 minutes in penalties on the play, Gostisbehere was only handed a two-minute minor for roughing.

The Panthers won't forget about the Gostisbehere-Marchand incident

Don't think for a second that the Florida Panthers won't remember what Shayne Gostisbehere did in Game 1. He'll likely have to pay the price for it throughout the remainder of this series... if it lasts much longer.

Jonah Gadjovich and AJ Greer were already looking to get a piece of the Canes' defenseman at the end of the night. Gino Hard shared a clip of the extracurriculars to end Game 1 on X.

This storyline won't be coming to an end anytime soon, and Gostisbehere might regret having put himself in the spotlight.

Game 2 between the Panthers and Hurricanes goes down on Thursday night in Carolina. The puck drops at 8 p.m. EST at the Lenovo Center.