Leafs getting no help from the referees; Canes winger takes Leafs winger out of the game with no penalty call
The Toronto Maple Leafs might've jumped to a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission, but the referees didn't do them any favours with several missed calls - one against them that shouldn't have been a penalty, mixed in with a very obvious missed call right in front of an official.
It started with Carolina Hurricanes forward, Jesse Puljujarvi, blatantly interfering with Maple Leafs forward, Noel Acciari, as the Puljujarvi was entering the offensive zone. Acciari was skating back into his own zone, Puljujarvi noticed him and extended his arms to impede the veteran, which was not called in the sight-lines of the referee.
Much to the chagrin of Maple Leafs head coach, Sheldon Keefe, he let loose on the referees and if your lip reading is any good, he yells out "you've got four of you out there", insinuating that the officials are either blind or were actively trying to rob the Leafs of a power play opportunity.
Shortly after that, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman, Brady Skjei was engaged in a net-front battle with Maple Leafs forward, Calle Jarnkrok. Even without video evidence, it was blatantly obvious that Skjei pushes Jarnkrok into goaltender, Pyotr Kochetkov. However, the referees called the penalty on Toronto for goaltender's interference - once more, to the chagrin of Sheldon Keefe, who grew increasingly frustrated.
Here are clips of each play, followed by Sheldon Keefe's reaction to both plays, emoting his scorn for the officials.
Acciari was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the game after his collision with Puljujarvi, relegating their forward corps to 10 members. It's unclear what the extent of the damage to Acciari is - or perhaps this is simply a case of the Leafs exercising some caution since it was a head shot that Puljujarvi caught Acciari with.
| POLL | ||
17 MARS | 526 ANSWERS Leafs getting no help from the referees; Canes winger takes Leafs winger out of the game with no penalty call Should Puljujarvi have been penalized for his interference on Acciari? | ||
| Yes | 487 | 92.6 % |
| No | 39 | 7.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
