Scott Sabourin drops Aaron Ekblad with one punch.

The National Hockey League preseason is a place where borderline players in the National Hockey League look to make an impact in order to earn a roster spot for the season, and veteran NHL enforcer Scott Sabourin may have done just that.

On Saturday night, Sabourin and the Tampa Bay Lightning faced off against their most bitter rivals in the form of the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and it would be during the first few minutes that Sabourin would make his impact felt.

It had just been over 2 minutes since the game got underway when Sabourin delivered a hard hit to Ekblad that sent him sprawling to the ice, with the two men getting in one another's faces after Ekblad bounced back to his feet. Sabourin used this as an opportunity to pounce on Ekblad who looked like he was considering dropping his gloves, but only managed to get one off before Sabourin dropped him to the ice once again.

This one was over in quick fashion, with Sabourin needing only one punch to send Ekblad down to the ice, this time with Ekblad staying down for several moments.

While some might be upset with this incident I suspect that the Lightning will be praising Sabourin behind the scenes, especially considering how things played out between these two teams earlier this week. Lightning forward Brandon Hagel was on the receiving end of several punches from A.J. Greer during a previous preseason clash, one that resulted in Greer receiving a fine from the league.

There is clearly no love between either of these teams and I expect this animosity will only intensify once the regular season gets under way.