Western Conference Final
Vegas Golden Knights at Dallas Stars
Game 3 – 8:00 PM ET

REFEREES

  Steve Kozari #40
Chris Lee #28
Last Game FLA/CAR Game 1 FLA/CAR Game 1
Games ’22-23 (Reg/PO) 73 | 10 74 | 10
Career Games (Reg/PO) 1158 | 133 1341 | 116
First NHL Game 10/15/05 4/2/01
First Playoff Game 4/14/10 4/15/09
Birthplace Penticton, BC St. John, NB
Goals/Gm (Reg/PO) 6.5 (9) | 6.0 (10) 6.2 (28) | 6.0 (10)
PP Opp/Gm (Reg/PO) 6.0 (25) | 6.4 (6) 5.5 (39) | 6.4 (6)
PPG/Gm (Reg/PO) 1.4 (17) | 1.7 (7) 1.1 (39) | 1.7 (7)
Penl/Gm (Reg/PO) 7.7 (21) | 8.2 (12) 6.9 (37) | 8.2 (12)
PIM/Gm (Reg/PO) 20.0 (8) | 19.1 (12) 16.1 (38) | 19.1 (12)
% of Penl on Home 49.7% (8) | 47.1% (10) 47.9% (35) | 47.1% (10)
% PP Opp for Home 50.6% (32) | 56.9% (5) 53.1% (6) | 56.9% (5)
Penl Diff.* (Reg/PO) 1.6 (3) | 1.1 (13) 1.4 (14) | 1.1 (13)
Home Win % (Reg/PO) 51% (37) | 44% (10) 55% (31) | 44% (10)
Home Rec. (Reg/PO) 33-32-8 | 4-5 38-31-5 | 4-5
OT/SO Games 20.5% (24) 20.3% (27)
Team Records 22-23 21-22 20-21 22-23 21-22 20-21
VGK 5-2-0 2-6 4-1 4-0-1 2-3 2-0
DAL 3-1-0 3-3 2-0 4-1-0 5-1 4-0
 

 
LINESMEN

  Brad Kovachik #71
Bevan Mills #53
Games ’22-23 69 / 9 74 / 11
Career Games (Reg/PO) 1764 / 196 368 / 21
First NHL Game 10/10/96 11/29/16
First Playoff Game 4/14/01 5/16/21
Birthplace Woodstock, ON Surrey, BC

 

 

Referees Steve Kozari and Chris Lee have been paired up the entire postseason. In Round 1, this duo took the ice for SEA/COL Game 1, WPG/VGK Game 2 (VGK W 5-2), EDM/LAK Game 4, MIN/DAL Game 5 (DAL W 4-0), CAR/NYI Game 6, and FLA/BOS Game 7. 

In the second round, they handled SEA/DAL Game 2 (DAL W 4-2), CAR/NJD Game 4, and EDM/VGK Game 5 (VGK W 4-3).

This duo ranks in the lower half of official pairings in penalties per game and power plays per game, shifting the focus away from special teams a bit. 

 

Linesmen Brad Kovachik and Bevan Mills are working together for the second time in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, having manned the lines for FLA/CAR Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Final.

Kovachik was partnered with Kyle Flemington for the opening round, working MIN/DAL Game 1, FLA/BOS Game 2, CAR/NYI Game 3, and LAK/EDM Game 5; he joined up with linesman Matt MacPherson in the second round for FLA/TOR Game 2, VGK/EDM Games 3 and 4 and DAL/SEA Game 6

Kovachik, who made his playoff debut in 2001, leads all active linesmen with 196 playoff appearances.

Mills worked the opening round with linesman Shandor Alphonso, taking the ice for WPG/VGK Game 1, EDM/LAK Games 3 and 4, SEA/COL Game 5, and DAL/MIN Game 6; he also worked NYR/NJD Game 7 with Scott Cherrey.  Mills was paired up with David Brisebois for the Conference Semifinals; the pair skated at EDM/VGK Game 1, DAL/SEA Games 3 and 4, and FLA/TOR Game 5.  

 

 

 

Series Officiating Supervisor: Don Van Massenhoven
Standby Officials: Chris Rooney, Matt MacPherson

 

 


  * Numbers in orange represent ref’s ranking among active officials.
 
* Penalty Differential represents the absolute value of the variance of penalty calls by team per game. If Team A takes two more penalties (or two fewer) than Team B, this is a 2  Lower numbers indicate less variance between total penalties in a game – that is, a closer number of calls for both teams.  

 
Playoff stats updated through May 17.  Regular season stats have been updated through the end of the 2022-23 regular season
 

The officials working the Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals:

NHL Referees and Linesmen for 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals