Eetu Luostarinen faces possible suspension after hit on Scott Laughton

Toronto took it 4-1 on Tuesday, riding early goals and keeping Florida chasing. Easton Cowan, Matthew Knies, and Auston Matthews built the lead before Carter Verhaeghe answered, and Bobby McMann finished it late.

The night felt like a playoff audition, with Florida throwing 30 hits to Toronto's 17 and still losing the flow. Max Domi and Aaron Ekblad dropped the gloves, and the whistles never quite calmed the temperature.

Eetu Luostarinen also found himself in the spotlight after a scary-looking sequence involving Scott Laughton near the boards. Realistically, the hit was straight into the numbers, and it looked like it sent Laughton's head into the boards, leaving him with a cut on his face.

There's no point sugarcoating it, it was hard to watch in real time. The contact was from behind, only a few feet from the glass, and that combination is exactly how ugly injuries happen. Whatever the intent was, the result mattered, and it's the kind of play that usually draws a serious look afterward.

There was no penalty on the play, but the NHL will certainly review it.

Then the moment everybody noticed, Brad Marchand was not on the Panthers bench to start the third period, per the TNT broadcast. There was no immediate update during the game, which matters because the 37-year-old has 23 goals and 46 points this season.

With Marchand missing, Florida had to live with a shortened look up front and a lot of double shifting. You could see the entries get simpler, more chips and recoveries, fewer clean carries into the slot.

Fans were already boiling online, and you could feel the bench getting tight with every stoppage. This is the kind of game where one missed rotation turns into three straight shifts in your own end.

After a bruising loss, the Panthers have to reset quickly, and they may have to do it without some veteran support on the right side, with Montreal ready to pounce on Thursday night.