Paul Bissonnette, Chris Chelios give their opinions on Eetu Luostarinen's ejection for hit on Jackson Blake

Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen was ejected from Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday night after delivering a hit from behind on Carolina Hurricanes forward Jackson Blake.

The incident occurred at 16:59 of the first period as both players raced for a loose puck. Blake seemed to ease up slightly before hitting the boards, but Luostarinen maintained his momentum, delivering a hit to send Blake head-first into the boards.

Blake was down on the ice in pain before skating on his own with a visible cut on his nose. Luostarinen received a 5-minute major penalty and game misconduct for boarding.

Speaking during the "NHL on TNT" intermission show, analysts Paul Bissonnette and Chris Chelios weighed in on the play. Bissonnette did not believe Luostarinen had malicious intent, saying

"I don't think there was malicious intent going into that. I think he was going stick on stick and not cause that type of damage .... No malicious intent ... "

Chelios agreed it was likely, not intentional, calling it,

"a bang bang play, it's unfortunate." He added. "If [Blake] doesn't come back it's a good call, if he does, I don't know. He took a pretty good shot."

Blake returned to the ice for the second period, while Eetu Luostarinen finished the game with just 3:30 of ice time. He has been an important piece of Florida's playoff run so far, with 4 goals and 13 points over 14 postseason games.

Kevin Bieksa delivers his opinion on Jackson Blake's positioning on the play that got Eetu Luostarinen ejected

On Sportsnet, former NHL defenseman Kevin Bieksa shared his opinion on the play that resulted in Florida Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen getting ejected from the game.

Bieksa said that it was the right call. He explained,

“Typically it's a D-man going back for these pucks ..... But, Blake does a good job. A couple head fakes going back for this and then he actually braces for contact.”

Bieksa added that Blake could have done better to get closer to the boards before bracing for impact, which would have reduced the gap and possibly softened the hit.

At the midway point of the third period, the Panthers led the Hurricanes 6-1. Florida got goals from Niko Mikkola (two goals), Jesper Boqvist, Brad Marchand, Evan Rodrigues and Aleksander Barkov. Evan Rodrigues also scored for the Panthers, while Logan Stankoven had the lone goal for Carolina.