SUNRISE, Fla. — Niko Mikkola had an assist on a goal that gave the Florida Panthers an 8-0 lead. Problem was, he’d been kicked out of the game a few minutes earlier and nobody noticed.

It was that kind of night between the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Florida beat Tampa Bay 7-0 in the preseason finale for both clubs Saturday night, though the score was irrelevant. There were 65 penalties for 312 minutes on the stat sheet, including 13 game misconduct penalties — seven for Tampa Bay, six for Florida. 4

The penalty count kept rising after the game, while officials were making sure everything that was called got logged.

Florida had 17 power-play chances in the game, by the NHL’s count.

The Panthers’ eighth goal was taken off the board after Niko Mikkola was ruled ineligible

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