TAMPA, Fla. -- A Tampa Bay Lightning fan has hired an attorney after getting hit in the face by a puck at Saturday afternoon’s playoff game.
Sabrina Pattie was at Game 2 of the series against the New Jersey Devils with her husband and two young children when a puck flew over the glass and struck her. The family was sitting five rows from the ice, just to the end of the protective netting.
"The next thing I knew everything was black," Pattie said. "I just felt like I got sucker punched or shot or hit by a puck."
Pattie watched the rest of the game from the Emergency Room at Tampa General Hospital. They didn't find any major problems, and she told us she feels lucky the puck missed her sons.
"I'm blessed that it was me, because if it was one of them it would've been a lot worse, because their heads are just so much more fragile," she said.
Pattie and her husband were upset the Lightning didn't reach out to them to offer their condolences until the following Monday.
10News reached out to the Lightning for a response. A spokesperson for the organization said it typically reaches out to fans who’ve gotten injured on the first business day after the game.
“We are very sorry that Ms. Pattie was struck by a puck at our game on Saturday afternoon," the organization said in a statement. " The safety standards as they pertain to the spectator netting and minimum glass heights in all NHL buildings is set by the NHL and these standards are in place at Amalie Arena.”
Photos: Woman hit in the face with a puck at Tampa Bay Lightning playoff game
In most cases, neither the venue nor the organization is liable if a spectator gets injured during the natural course of a game, according to the University of Denver Sports and Entertainment Law Journal. People who buy tickets to a game essentially sign an agreement that the venue and team aren’t responsible for their injuries.
However, Pattie's attorney Loren Pincus said he believes the organization could be liable in this case.
Tickets to Lightning games have a warning on them that fans can get injured and that the team isn’t responsible. The NHL mandated protective netting behind the goals after a fan was killed by a puck in 2002.
However, there is no netting around the entire rink, which is what Pattie and her husband would like to see.
"What we want is no one to ever go through this again," Pattie's husband, Ryan, said.
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