Notebook: Ekblad Bruised, But Feeling 'Pretty Good' After Domi Punch

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- Less than 48 hours after being sucker punched by Canadiens forward Max Domi during Wednesday's 5-2 win at Montreal, Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad greeted the media at the Panthers IceDen saying he felt no worse for wear, despite sporting a black eye and a broken nose.

"I can't breathe out of my nose too well, but I feel pretty good," Ekblad said after Friday's practice.
With the game tied 2-2, Domi began tugging on Ekblad's jersey less than a minute into the third period, egging him on to drop the gloves. Ekblad, showing no interest in a scuffle, attempted to skate away on more than one occasion, but was pulled back several times by Domi, who punched him in the face twice with his gloved left hand in an attempt to bait the former Calder Trophy winner into an altercation.
Then, unprovoked, Domi dropped his right glove and punched Ekblad square in the face, sending him to the ice in a violent and bloody display. Domi was given a minor, major and match penalty on the play.
"It looked like Max was frustrated," said Ekblad, who scored a career-high 16 goals last season. "He obviously wasn't doing much in the game and thought it was the right way to take care of something. I'm not sure what there was to take care of, considering I didn't do much on the ice. I was just floating around trying to find my legs and play hockey. That's what you do in the preseason...the preseason."
After the punch, Ekblad was pulled out of the game to undergo testing but cleared concussion protocol.
"It's not John Scott coming and punching me in the face," Ekblad said. "I was surprised, went down, got up, noticed that my head was fine and skated off the ice. It wasn't anything more than that… I was fine."
On Thursday, the NHL Department of Player Safety gave what Ekblad described as "a gift" when it was announced that the punch would only cost Domi the remainder of the preseason - a punishment that Panthers coach Bob Boughner believes doesn't necessarily match the harshness of the crime.
"The league's got a tough position in all those situations, but in my mind it was a little light," Boughner said of the ruling. "It is what it is. Those are the rules and we move on."
After practice, Ekblad's teammates said they were happy to see their star defenseman in good spirits.
"He's still the prettiest guy on the team," center Jared McCann said.
The next time the Panthers face the Canadiens will be on Dec. 28 at BB&T Center.

THREE CENTERS, ONE LINE

While the Panthers lost Ekblad against the Canadiens, they might have found their third line.
After coming together for the first time in Wednesday night's victory, a line of Henrik Borgstrom, Denis Malgin and McCann was together again at Friday's practice. Against Montreal, the trio combined for 10 shots, two goals and one assist, with McCann scoring twice in the third period to ice the game.
"We all seem to have pretty good chemistry together," said McCann, the oldest skater on the line despite turning just 22 in May. "It's been showing on the ice. We obviously need to play together a little bit more to learn each other's tendencies, but that'll come with time. I feel like we have a good opportunity to help the team… They're both skilled and both very quick. I feel like that's the way I play. To have two guys compliment you like that, it definitely makes you play better."
Boughner said he plans to deploy that line again this preseason, but not on Saturday against the Stars.
"Really like it and that's why we kept them together," Boughner said. "They've got a little bit of chemistry going after last game. I've watched them in practice, as well… going into some other preseason games, I'd like to see that combination together."
While all three skaters joined the Panthers as centers, Borgstrom, the 23rd overall pick in the 2016 draft, is the latest to make the transition to the wing. Having not played on the wing regularly for at least five years, the 21-year-old said his comfort in Boughner's system made the switch easier than he expected.
"I felt pretty good to be honest," said Borgstrom, who scored one goal in four games after making his NHL debut with Florida last season. "Playing center in this league is super tough. I haven't played on the wing in a long time, but I thought I played better two days ago in Montreal than I did in the first game against Nashville. I felt pretty comfortable on the wing -- definitely better than the first game…It's kind of different, but luckily we've been talking a lot about the systems…I knew what to do on the wing."
Borgstrom said Malgin, who moved to the wing last season, has also been helping him on the ice.
"I just told him, 'Play your game and don't think too much,'" said Malgin, who picked up the primary assist on McCann's first goal against the Canadines with a nice feed from behind Montreal's net.
With reason to be optimistic based on their early results, Malgin, 21, is hopeful that the line will stick.
"Why not? I think it was a good game," Malgin said. "I think it was fun."