With the Nashville Predators only seconds away from clinching a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Bridgestone Arena, a frustrated Austin Watson took a mid-ice slapshot that drilled Jeremy Lauzon in the leg, causing an apparent injury.
As you can see in the video, Jeremy Lauzon was hit in the lower leg by the puck. He then slammed his stick to the ice and limped off the ice, just as Yakov Trenin and a few other Preds skaters went after Watson.
“I did not like that at all,” Andrew Brunette said after the game. “That has no place in hockey. Because that’s…. yeah, no place whatsoever in hockey.”
Watching the play, it does not appear that Watson was trying to injure Lauzon, or any other Predators player for that matter. It appeared to be a play out of frustration, given the 5-1 loss on the scoreboard for his team.
But regardless, it was an exceedingly reckless play by a player that has been suspended for his play in the past.
There was a report that after the game Watson attempted to seek out Lauzon to see if he was ok, or possibly apologize for such an ill-advised shot. This has not been confirmed by Penalty Box Radio, but given that Watson is a former Preds player, it would make sense he would try to amend the situation.
Stay tuned for a possible suspension from NHL Player Safety on this one.
