Florida Panthers forward William Lockwood had the bad idea of physically attacking goaltender Marc-André Fleury, and his Minnesota Wild teammates quickly came to his aid.
The Quebecer was trying to control a puck behind his net early in the first period of Friday night's game at the BB&T Center when Lockwood came at full speed and knocked him off balance. Fleury fell onto the ice, somewhat dazed.
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Meanwhile, three Wild players attacked his attacker and defenseman Zach Bogosian had time to throw a few good shots before the referees intervened. Even Fleury got a turn in the melee, keeping her distance.
Watch this first incident in the video above.
Lockwood, who is not known as a fighter, had to defend himself in a duel against Brandon Duhaime a few minutes later and was no match for him at all. The 25-year-old American collapsed violently on the ice and his opponent appeared to regret throwing away the gloves with him.
Two goalkeepers leave the game
If Fleury hadn't been too badly affected by the first touch, a second touch in the second period would have left him with an upper-body injury. He was replaced by Filip Gustavsson, at the same time as Anthony Stolarz, who replaced Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Wild won that game 6-4 thanks to two goals from Kirill Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman. Brock Faber also shone with three assists. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad had four points in the loss.
What caught the attention, however, were the 48-minute penalties awarded by the referees. Duhaime and Ryan Lomberg were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, while Marcus Foligno and Jonah Gadjovich started the fight.
The two teams will not compete against each other again in 2023-2024. Billing must take place later.