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A hockey fan has been hospitalized after falling from the upper stands during a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena on Oct. 27The man is in critical condition, according to the Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAnother fan told the outlet that the man “cartwheeled right over the railing”

A hockey fan has been hospitalized after falling from the upper stands during an NHL game. 

In a statement shared on X on Monday, Oct. 27, the Pittsburgh Penguins confirmed that a man “fell from the upper concourse to the lower bowl at PPG Paints Arena earlier this evening” during their game against the St. Louis Blues. 

The team said the man was “immediately attended to by Pittsburgh EMS” and personnel at the arena in Pittsburgh before being transported to a local hospital. 

“Although there is no further information at this time, the Penguins OVG Management Group are closely monitoring the situation,” the statement continued. “Our concerns remain with the individual and his family at this time.”

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the fan is in critical condition. He was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Fans said they saw the man fall down several stairs before he struck the glass and tumbled headfirst over it, the outlet reported.

Pittsburgh Police commander Jeff Abraham told the outlet that the fan fell into the suite level and hit another person before dropping another level onto a walkway. The person who was hit by the man declined to be taken to the hospital, according to the outlet.

“He was just coming down the stairs, and then he lost balance,” Sam Dance, who was in attendance a the game, told the outlet. “At first, I thought he was just having a joke because it was relatively slow. But he missed two or three [steps] in a row where he looked unbalanced, and then all of a sudden he was on the glass, sort of balanced.”

“For like half a second, it was sort of ‘Is he going to go over or not?’ It was a split second, and then he just [fell],” Dance added.

Another fan also told the outlet that the man “cartwheeled right over the railing,” adding, “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

Blake Lizotte and Justin Faulk in the first period of the game at PPG Paints Arena on Oct. 27, 2025.

Justin Berl/Getty 

The incident happened early in the first period of the game, shortly after the Penguins took a 2-0 lead thanks to a goal from Anthony Mantha, ESPN and St. Louis outlet FOX 2 reported. The man was taken to Mercy Hospital, which is located a few blocks from the arena, and play was not halted while he was treated.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby told ESPN that the team found out about the fall after the game.

“It doesn’t feel right to be talking about points when you hear something like that,” Crosby, 38, said. “Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with that person and their family and hopefully they’re okay.”

“We all come here for a sport and a game, and when you hear something like that, it kind of puts everything else aside,” Penguins coach Dan Muse added. “Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”

The incident comes months after another fan fell from the stands during a Pittsburgh sporting event. 

Kavan Markwood was also hospitalized in critical condition after falling 21 feet onto the warning track during an MLB game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs in April. 

Markwood, 20, went over the railings during the seventh inning of the game at PNC Park on April 30.

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Days later, loved ones called his recovery “nothing short of miraculous” in an update on a GoFundMe launched to help pay for Markwood’s medical bills.

Further updates shared that while Markwood “still had a journey ahead,” he had managed to take his first steps after breaking his neck, clavicle and back in the accident. 

“I don’t know how I’m alive,” Markwood later told Inside Edition during an interview last month. “I wake up with pain every day. My arm, I can’t feel my two fingers still. [But] I’m doing better than what I was, that’s for sure.”