I mean the governing body of Hockey in Canada also agrees with me on player safety....
"The official continues to assume the role of being in charge of the overall environment; however, the safety person takes over with respect to executing the Emergency Action Plan (EAP) and in making decisions around the injured player.
In a situation where a player is injured on the ice, the following are the responsibilities of the game officials:
- Once the injured player’s team takes possession of the puck, the referee blows down the play. If the injury is deemed serious by the referee, they may blow down the play immediately"
Hellebuyck's injury obviously wasn't that serious seeing as he stayed in the game. And the play wasn't blown dead as the referee did not believe Hellebuyck was at anymore risk laying on the ice covering his head with his glove and no one else was near him for a potential "skate" injury.