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'Rat Trick' forces Panthers onto penalty kill ... twice

Eliot J. Schechter / National Hockey League / Getty

Chucking rats comes at a cost these days.

The Florida Panthers faithful forced their team down a man not once, but twice in Thursday's 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Despite being warned on multiple occasions, flinging rats - especially commemorative ones handed out at the door - is what one does when celebrating goals in Sunrise.

It was the first (and second) time a delay of game penalty was issued for the "Rat Trick," and something the Panthers' marketing department should've probably anticipated. Rubber rats poured onto the ice without relent in response to goals during the club's run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.

If Gerard Gallant's fury didn't make it clear enough, the Panthers won't make the same mistake twice.

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