Linesman Travis Toomey suffered a hand injury that forced him to leave Thursday’s game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Edmonton Oilers.
Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov hit Evander Kane of the Oilers from behind, knocking him to the ice in front of the Lightning bench. Kane retaliated by kicking out Kucherov’s leg. The Bolts forward went down, tripping up linesman Travis Toomey.
The official put his hands out to break his fall, catching his left hand on Kucherov’s skate.
Toomey left the ice immediately. He sustained a severe laceration at the base of his thumb that reportedly required 10-12 stitches. No word on his status or if he’ll miss any time in the officiating rotation.
The incident took place with 2:16 remaining in the first period. Kane was called for tripping on the play.
The game continued with referees Cody Beach and Jean Hebert, with Bevan Mills the lone linesman.
Toomey, from Leduc, Alberta, was hired in 2019, splitting time between the American Hockey League and the NHL. He’s in his second season as a full-time NHL official, having been promoted in 2021. He’s manned the lines for 211 regular season games, including 39 this season.
