Referee jumps in crease to not block Panthers shot (Video)

Referee T.J. Luxmore almost blocked a shot around the goalmouth by the Florida Panthers in their Monday 4-2 loss against the New York Rangers.

Late in the second period with New York up 2-0, the Panthers pounced on the puck in front of the Rangers net, trying to put it past New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. It appeared Lundqvist was about to freeze the puck, so Luxmore skated closer to the play to blow it dead and found himself in the crease.

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The puck squirted loose and Luxmore was standing in front of Panthers forward Jussi Jokinen who had the puck and a seemingly open net. Luxmore jumped to get out of the way, but fortunately for the ref, Jokinen pushed the puck into the goalpost. 

Whether Luxmore’s presence confused Jokinen enough to prevent a goal is uncertain. The Panthers made the game 3-2 on a Jiri Hudler goal at the 19:32 mark of the third period before the Rangers scored an empty netter with nine seconds left to push the score to 4-2.  

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper