NHL referee Chris Rooney OK after taking stick to the face in Panthers' Game 7 win over Maple Leafs
NHL referee Chris Rooney is OK after leaving the Florida Panthers' Game 7 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night with a scary looking eye injury.
Rooney took an inadvertent stick to the face just a few seconds into the second period of the Panthers' 6-1 win at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Sunday. The stick, which belonged to Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola, grazed Rooney's face and nearly knocked his helmet off completely.
Rooney went down and immediately reached for his face and his right eye, which was gushing blood. He was eventually walked off the ice with some assistance and a bloody towel held up against his face. He didn't return.
Referee Chris Rooney caught a stick up high and has been escorted off the ice.Hope he's okay 🙏 pic.twitter.com/TwTEm3klFk
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 19, 2025
Rooney received stitches on the cut, which was just above his eye. He was left with a black eye, but sustained no lasting damage, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. It's unclear how long Rooney will be sidelined, but the veteran official hopes to be back in action later in the playoffs.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers, despite the game being 0-0 when Rooney went down, ended up cruising to the five-goal win to close out their series to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for a second straight season. They'll take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the next round, while the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers are set in the Western Conference finals on the other side of the bracket.
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