Referee takes deflected slap shot to the face during power-play

Officials in the National Hockey League have had it rough since the start of the season… 

On Wednesday night, poor linesman Michel Cormier caught an edge on the ice and slammed his head into the boards during the game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was unable to finish the contest. 

On Thursday night, the bad luck took place in Vegas during the game between the Golden Knights and the Ottawa Senators. In the last five minutes of the third period as the local favourites attempted to take the lead during a power-play, one of the referee who stood near Marc-André Fleury’s net got hit in the face by a powerful deflected shot from the blue liner, snapped by defensemen Shea Theodore. 

You can tell in the video the official was not expecting to get hit in the face so hard and is even seen getting away from the puck after it got him to make sure he wasn’t getting hurt again. 

Officials can be like NHL players though: he finished the game and could end up sporting a killer scar for the rest of his life.