Viral scene on the Panthers' bench: Coach Paul Maurice solidly hits his assistant, and his reaction is simply hilarious

Following the huge winning goal scored by none other than Matthew Tkachuk, in an outburst of emotions that we can certainly understand, head coach Paul Maurice had a rather unexpected reaction.

He straight-up slapped his assistant with considerable force.

Watch the footage here:

The assistant in question was clearly caught off guard, and his reaction is hilarious. He was wondering what had just happened.

Obviously, it was by no means a violent act, but let's just say that the (positive) emotion took over, and it was a rather unique way of celebrating.

Maurice's assistant will walk away with a good bruise.

It definitely made us laugh. We're happy for Maurice and the Panthers; it's a great story of redemption.

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