Referee loses consciousness and stretchered off after scary collision

A very scary scene unfolded in today's Lightning vs Penguins game when referee Steve Kozari collided with Lightning defender Hayden Fleury. Kozari lost consciousness, and had to be stretchered off.

The collision appeared to happen at center ice, and it knocked out Kozari for several moments. After a while, the stretchers came out to move Kozari off the ice. On his way out, he seemed to gesture to his fellow linesman, and offered up a thumbs up to the crowd. ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported that Kozari's head snapped back to hit the ice.

Both benches cleared off as a sign of respect for Kozari, and both teams were seriously concerned about the health of the referee. Hayden Fleury also had to go back to the locker room dealing with some pain from the collision.

Everyone here at OilersDaily is wishing the best for Steve Kozari, and is hoping for a quick recovery for the veteran referee.

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