"Oh no what will baby do without his pacifier": NHL fans in splits after Chris Kreider throws Matthew Tkachuk's mouth guard into the stands

NHL fans online had a good laugh when the New York Rangers' Chris Kreider chucked the Florida Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk's mouth guard into the stands. The tension between the two players heated up just 48 seconds into the third period of Game 4 at the Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

Both players had to be pulled apart by the linesman. In the middle of the scuffle, Kreider got a hold of Matthew Tkachuk's mouthguard, which he then tossed into the stands after they were separated.

Here's a video of the incident:

Fans wasted no time reacting to the incident. One tweeted:

"Oh no what will baby do without his pacifier?"

Another chimed in:

"It landed right in my honey mustard sauce. I will not be finishing my chicken fingers."

"He hates all technology. iPads, mouth guards, whatever," another wrote.

Here are some of the other amusing reactions on X. One said:

"I'm a Panthers fan, but this is hilarious."

"Should be a game misconduct, where are you NHL cmon, so obvious they want the rangers to win as per usual," one opined.

"I was wondering what he threw! Oh my! That’s a gross souvenir for some fan," another commented.

"I would be pissed if a mouthguard hit me in the head at a hockey game," one X user tweeted.

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Matthew Tkachuk and Florida Panthers even the series against New York Rangers

The Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers played their third overtime game in the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday. After losing Games 2 and 3 in overtime, the Panthers secured their first OT victory in the series, beating the Blue Shirts 3-2 in Game 4.

Vincent Trocheck opened the scoring for the Rangers, putting them up 1-0 through a powerplay goal at 8:51 of the first period. Sam Bennett made it 1-1 at 8:45 of the second period.

Four minutes later, Carter Veraeghe put the Panthers ahead 2-1 on the powerplay, scoring on Matthew Tkachuk's backdoor pass that deflected off Ryan Lindgren's helmet. Alexis Lafreniere tied it 2-2 after redirecting Adam Fox's pass from the left post to beat Sergei Bobrovsky.

Sam Reinhart then scored the winner through a powerplay goal at 1:12 of overtime. Bobrovsky made 23 saves for the Panthers, while Igor Shesterkin blocked 37 shots for the Blue Shirts.

Matthew Tkachuk notched up an assist, while Aleksander Barkov collected two points for the Cats. The series is tied at 2-2 ahead of Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.