With just over seven minutes left in the third period, Malmö player Lance Bouma turned the puck out of his own zone, at the same time HV player Mikkel Bödker came and pressed.
Then Bouma was tackled into one of the linesmen and was pushed up against the edge.
The referee fell directly to the ice and had to be treated by team doctors before being led off the ice.
The match could be resumed after a few minutes' break, then at a score of 4-2 to HV71.
The home team had taken the lead midway through the game after overturning a 0–1 deficit following two goals in 20 seconds.
Then new signing Joey Laleggia added on by scoring two goals to make it 4-1.
Ponthus Westerholm responded for Malmö in the third period, also his second goal of the day.
But Malmö never came closer than 4-2 in the anxiety meeting, so HV71 could break its streak of five straight losses.
For Malmö, the match meant their fourth loss in a row.