Lightning’s Conor Geekie to have hearing for leaving bench on legal line change to start altercation

The incident occurred midway through the second period when Geekie hopped over the boards and immediately went after Panthers’ forward Josh Davies.

Geekie received a cross-checking minor, an instigator, a five-minute major for fighting and a 10-minute game misconduct, totalling 19 penalty minutes.

Geekie went after Davies after the Panthers’ forward laid a big hit on Lightning captain Victor Hedman.

“It’s one of those things, it doesn’t matter if it’s (Hedman) or whoever it is,” Geekie told the Tampa Bay Times. “I think anyone gets hit like that, someone’s got to step up. And I figured that I could be that guy. It worked out, but anyone could do it. I’m sure a lot of guys were thinking the same thing as me.”

Geekie was taken No. 11 overall by the Arizona Coyotes/Utah Hockey Club in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft before being traded to the Lightning , along with defenseman J.J. Moser, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2024 seventh-round pick in exchange for defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.

Geekie spent parts of five seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Winnipeg Ice, Wenatchee Wild and Swift Current Broncos. Through 215 regular-season games, he scored 111 goals and 158 assists for 269 points. Last season, he scored 43 goals and 56 assists for 99 points in 55 regular-season games split between the Wild and Broncos.