Stanley Cup Final Linesman Unwittingly Becomes Part of Scoring Play in Game 6 (Video)

by Zach Stoloff on Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 10:15PM

Officials in any sport can have a huge impact on the outcome of an individual game. However, those officials aren't usually impacting the game by having players make impact with them.

That was exactly what happened during Monday night's Stanley Cup Final Game 6, as linesman Pierre Racicot got caught in an awkward position on the ice immediately preceding Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter's second goal of the game. The tally put the Kings up 4-0 en route to closing out the Final and capturing the Stanley Cup.

As Kings captain Dustin Brown crosses the Devils' blue line with the puck, Racicot gets caught in the middle of the ice, and essentially interferes with Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov, taking them both down to the ice. Moments later, after the Kings managed to keep the puck in the zone, Carter streamlines towards the slot from the point, scoring off a pass from Brown.

Though Volchenkov did have a chance to get back in the play, it will never be known whether or not better positioning would have allowed the Devils the chance to clear the puck on the initial shot attempt.

The play wasn't without repercussions for Racicot, however. The linesman's head appeared to make contact with Volchenkov's stick as he tumbled towards the ice, and his neck seemed to make a whiplash motion during the fall. Though the play drew blood, Racicot stayed in the game.

Watch the video below to see the play yourself.