Florida's William Lockwood Takes Out Wild Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, Lockwood has a hearing with the Department of Players Safety

Last night the Minnesota Wild took on the Florida Panthers in a non-conference game in South Florida. The game started out with a bang, literally. 

At the 2:15 mark of the first period, Wild goalie Mark Andre Fleury went behind the net to play a puck, at the same time, Panters forward William Lockwood interfered with Fleury knocking him to the ice. If you watch the video, you will see that Fleury absorbed a vicious hit. 

For those that are wondering, Lockwood isn't a skilled player and was probably on the ice to cause havoic. Look at his stats, he's not known for his skill, in 51 NHL games, he's scored (0g-2-a--2pts). What was his purpose for being on the ice? Yes, he's in the NHL, but I don't see a lot of teams trying to pick him up in free agency. 

Midway through the game Fleury would leave the game and no return. The Panthers are notorious for being a dirty team.

Wild start to this game 👀 pic.twitter.com/GvUoz4GLe3

— Bally Sports Florida: Panthers (@BallyPanthers) January 20, 2024

Lockwood will have a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety. I won't even try to predict how they will rule, George Parros has natoriously been soft on offending players.

Florida’s William Lockwood will have a hearing today for goalie interference on Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury.

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) January 20, 2024

At the 5:58 mark of the first period, Lockwood fought Minnesota Wild forward Brandon Duhaime. The proper response for attempting to decapitate the Wild's goalie Fleury.