Lightning head coach Jon Cooper suddenly unhappy with the officiating after loss in Game 3
Well well well, the tables have turned. The shoe is on the other foot and the Leafs have taken a 2-1 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Leafs made some adjustments to their lineup and played a much more disciplined game Friday Night. This led to a 5-3 penalty differential in favour of the Leafs and a 5-2 win on the scoreboard.
After Tampa's 5-3 win in game 2, John Cooper had no issues with the way the games were being called, and why would he? His team was awarded 7 powerplays in the game and, according to Cooper, they were all good calls.
Fast forward to Friday night's tilt, each team took 3 infraction based penalties, but the Lightning fired 2 pucks over the glass. Still, Cooper wasn't nearly as happy with the NHL's new standard of officiating.
While I'd agree it's odd seeing so many minor infractions being called for penalties these playoffs, it's on the teams to adjust. The Leafs made the adjustment Friday night, emphasizing skill and hard work over violence and a lack of discipline. If Cooper doesn't want to see his players sitting in the box, they'll need to make an adjustment. If not, the Leafs will have a very good chance to take hold of this series Sunday night and give themselves 3 chances to end it.
| POLL | ||
MAI 7 | 117 ANSWERS Lightning head coach Jon Cooper suddenly unhappy with the officiating after loss in Game 3 Have the refs called too many penalties these playoffs? | ||
| Yes, its out of hand | 57 | 48.7 % |
| No, they're finally doing it right | 42 | 35.9 % |
| they should be calling more | 18 | 15.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
