Tampa Bay Lightning young star Conor Geekie officially suspended by the NHL after pre-season altercation

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Tom Banks
October 3, 2024 (6:01 PM)

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The Tampa Bay Lightning played a very physical game against their Florida rival on Wednesday, and now it's resulted in a suspension for a young forward.

The 2024 NHL pre-season hasn't had its shortages of physical confrontations, injuries and heated play, and on Wednesday that continued during the Battle of Florida. In the second period, Panthers winger Josh Davies went after captain Victor Hedman, and that didn't sit right with either Nikita Kucherov or young forward Conor Geekie, who both retaliated following the hit on the brand new Lightning captain.

In the first place, the hit from Davies was a totally legal one, and while the retaliation from Kucherov was seemingly warranted, Geekie took it to another level. While it was a regulation NHL fight, Geekie had to face a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety for a clear violation of rule 70.2, as he clearly made a line change with the intent of starting an altercation according to the league.

Now, it has been confirmed on social media that Geekie will be suspended for just one pre-season game over the move, and while any time missed for a young player isn't ideal, it's safe to say that he will have won his teammates over after doing this against a division rival. Despite the Lightning's deep lineup, Geekie is in with a solid shot at making the roster for the 2024/25 season opener, and after sticking up for his team, he may just find himself in the lineup bringing that type of physicality on a nightly basis this season.