Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov left their Game 2 win over Tampa Bay after a third-period hit by Lightning forward Brandon Hagel, which earned him a major penalty.

The Panthers won, 2-0, to take a 2-0 series lead over their arch rivals in a physical, grinding road game on Thursday night.

“The rivalry is growing and growing. We just hate them more and more every time we play them,” Florida center Sam Bennett said after the game.

Around midway through the third period, Tampa Bay was on the power play trailing 1-0. Barkov pressured defenseman Ryan McDonagh deep in the Lightning zone. With the puck clearly past Barkov, Hagel lined him up for a huge hit that sent the Panthers captain down to the ice and thumping off the end boards. A penalty was immediately whistled and the officials conferred before calling a “five-minute penalty.” After review, Hagel was given a 5-minute major for interference.

Barkov left the game with 10:09 remaining in regulation and did not return. Florida coach Paul Maurice didn’t offer an update on Barkov after the game. Barkov has three assists against the Lightning, including a helper on defenseman Nate Schmidt’s third goal of the series in Game 2.

The Lightning killed off the five-minute major, but it ate up nearly half the time left in regulation for a team trailing in the game. Bennett iced the game with an empty net goal.

“He’s an irreplicable player,” said Panthers defenseman Seth Jones of Barkov. “One of the best centermen in the league. He’s super important to our team.”

Lightning coach Jon Cooper didn’t expect Hagel to receive a major penalty for the hit. “Refs make the call. I was a little surprised it was a five, but it was,” he said. “They made that call so now we have to dig in, and I thought the boys did a great job digging in.”

The Panthers go back to Sunrise with a 2-0 series lead thanks to a tremendous defensive effort. They blanked the Lightning power play on five opportunities and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 19 shots he faced.

“We defended very well. We didn’t give too much to them. We were pretty aggressive. And then we had Bob,” said center Anton Lundell.

The Panthers and Lightning meet again on Saturday afternoon in Game 3.

“Everyone’s going to be probably going to be talking that we’re done. But we believe in this locker room we can come back,” said Lightning winger Jake Guentzel.