Referee Corey Syvret got in the way of the puck and used his skate to keep it moving – right to a Bruins player.
Syvret was behind the Boston net when Bruins center Curtis Lazar passed the puck around the boards. It hit Syvret in the skates, coming to a stop.
Rather than leave it and get out of the way, Syvret kicked the puck in its initial direction — moving it away from the forecheck of Ottawa’s Dylan Gambrell and right to Boston blueliner Mike Reilly. The Bruins were able to clear the zone and move the puck up ice.
Officials are deemed to be in play. Pucks can be played directly after contact with a referee or linesman, but cannot be scored directly off an official. They do their best to stay out of the way. In this case, Syvret appeared to make an instinctive attempt to continue the play as expected, had he not made contact with the puck.
Standing in lanes where players typically battle for the puck can sometimes result in active participation? Not standard at all. https://t.co/XbITtWjubN
— Kerry Fraser (@kfraserthecall) April 15, 2022
Syvret is in his fifth season as an NHL referee, his first as a full-time official. He has 124 NHL games under his belt. Prior to making the jump to officiating, Syvret played in the ECHL and AHL; he was drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2007.
Ottawa, leading 3-2 at the time, held on for the win.
Officials for the game were referees Corey Syvret (#23) and Ian Walsh (#29) with linesmen Michel Cormier (#76) and David Brisebois (#96).
