PITTSBURGH — NHL referee Steve Kozari was stretchered off the ice during the game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Kozari appeared to get injured in a collision with Lightning defenseman Haydn Fleury near the center-ice circle. Kozari was caught on his blindside by Fleury with 13 minutes and 49 seconds remaining in the third period and the Penguins ahead, 4-2.
The collision happened away from the puck, but Kozari and Fleury each went down and action was stopped. Fleury quickly rolled onto his knees and left for the arena medical area through the benches, but Kozari was motionless as emergency response personnel and Penguins doctors quickly attended to him.
As the attending personnel encircled above Kozari, a stretcher was brought on to the ice and Kozari was lifted onto the stretcher and taken off the ice through the Zamboni entrance after roughly five minutes.
An eerie hush enveloped the crowd in a delayed response to the incident. The arena video board cut away from its live feed and music was stopped. Some Penguins and Lightning players left the benches to skate, while others watched from the benches as Kozari received treatment.
Scary collision between Referee Steve Kozari & Haydn Fleury. Teams surround Kozari as he’s taken off on a stretcher.
Hoping he’s ok pic.twitter.com/yV4CEnjLjO
— Josh Getzoff (@JG_PxP) April 6, 2024
Coming into the current season, Kozari, 46, had officiated 1,151 regular-season games and 136 Stanley Cup playoff games, according to his biography on the NHL Officials Association official website. He also also appeared in four Stanley Cup Final series.
He was promoted to full-time NHL status after the 2006-07 season, according to the bio. He began officiating all level of minor-league hockey before spending 210 seasons with the Western Hockey League.
Kozari, who wears No. 40, notably works with the British Columbia Sheriff’s office when he was a part-time official in the WHL.
(Photo: Richard A. Whittaker / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
