Suspension risk for Luostarinen after dangerous hit on Devils star Jack Hughes

The contact came hard along the boards. The angle looked dangerous, the kind that usually gets more than a quick two.

New Jersey's response was instant. Sticks came up, bodies piled in, and the scrum took over the game.

Here's what made it explode. The Devils ended up eating the bigger punishment when Brendan Dillon got four minutes for roughing, while Luostarinen only got two.

That penalty math is the story, not the scrum itself. Florida got extra man-advantage time and made it count.

Hughes is too important for New Jersey to shrug this off. He's sitting at 12-27-39, and the Devils' whole attack runs through his touches and timing.

Luostarinen isn't Florida's headline scorer, but he plays a heavy, annoying game. He's at 7-17-24, and he's the exact type who can swing momentum with one collision.

Devils fans were already edgy, and this is the kind of sequence that turns frustration into full-on fury in real time.

Don't be shocked if Eetu Luostarinen gets a call from the NHL's Department of Player Safety on this one, because a hit-from-behind into the boards is exactly the type of play they routinely re-check once the game ends.

The league looks hard at whether the opponent is in a vulnerable position, whether the contact drives him straight into the wall, and whether there's head contact or an injury on the play.

Even if it only drew two minutes in the moment, DoPS can still step in with a fine or a suspension if the video shows clear boarding from behind, especially with a star like Jack Hughes involved

That's why the double-minor on Dillon lands like an insult. It feels like New Jersey defended its star, then got punished for it.

Dillon isn't some random call-up either. He's a big-minute defenseman at 3-9-12, and he's usually the guy trying to calm things down, not light the fuse.

Florida loves this kind of game. When things get messy, they want you chasing hits while they chase power plays.

The Devils coach losing it on the bench was predictable. When the call feels backwards, you are coaching against emotion as much as the opponent.

New Jersey has to respond the right way next time. Keep playing, keep skating, and make the refs a footnote instead of the headline.

But yeah, this one is going to linger. When your star gets clipped from behind and you end up shorthanded longer, it sticks in the fanbase for weeks.