It certainly wasn’t the homecoming Michel Cormier expected. 

Linesman Michel Cormier was injured during Saturday’s game between the Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens after taking a slapshot to the lower leg.

The Quebec native dropped the puck at center ice after Montreal’s Patrik Laine scored with 4:46 remaining in the second period.  Dallas center Wyatt Johnson won the draw, pushing the puck back to defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin who blasted a dump-in from center that hit Cormier squarely in the leg.
 

 

The veteran linesman was helped off the ice; he did not return.  He reportedly suffered a broken leg on the play and is expected to be out 6-8 weeks.

Saturday’s game continued with three officials: referees Wes McCauley (#4) and Stephen Hiff (#46), with James Tobias (#61) the lone linesman.

Cormier made his NHL debut in 2003. He’s since gone on to officiate 1,404 regular season games along with 99 playoff appearances.