Game 7 of the second round series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers took a scary turn early in the second period when referee Chris Rooney took an errant stick in the face. A bloody Rooney then exited the game with medical trainers tending to him.
Shortly after the period began, Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola was trying to move the puck up the boards when his stick came up and hit Rooney in the face. The official immediately hit the ice in a lot of pain, and players quickly signaled for the trainers as blood poured from his face.
Rooney remained on the ice for several moments as trainers assisted him. By the time Rooney left the ice with a towel on his face, blood covered the ice and boards around where the veteran referee was struck.
Rooney was able to skate off the ice under his own power, and he received stitches for a cut above his eye, according to the TNT broadcast. With Rooney exiting the game, replacement referee Garrett Rank took his place for the remainder of the game.
According to rinkside commentator Brian Boucher, Mikkola was “surprised” to learn that his stick was the one that caught Rooney up high. After Rooney left, the ice crew spent a few minutes scraping blood off the ice before play resumed.
