In one of the funnier instances of referees getting involved in a game, one referee in New York almost cost the Buffalo Sabres a goal.
Islanders vs. Sabres: Ref steals Patrick Kaleta’s stick, confusion ensues
At least he was nice enough to give it back.
Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
As Patrick Kaleta got into a battle for the puck with Islanders Casey Cizikas, Mark Streit and Matt Martin in the corner, the unfortunate linesman found himself in the middle of the fracas. Instead of skating out of the area he decided the best course of action was to stand still. This reminded me of when the protaganist of a horror movie decides to just stand still behind a wall and hope that the bad guy doesn't find them.
They always do. And the play found the linesman. He and Kaleta got tangled up, the linesman grabbed the forward’s stick he flailed and tried to keep balance, and suddenly Kaleta was stickless and the linesman was wide open for a one-timer in the corner.
No one was quite sure why he called time a few seconds later, but my hunch is he just wanted to apologize. How nice. And what an odd sequence.
