Missed calls against Panthers in OT lead to more heartbreak and frustration for the Leafs
Early in overtime, Leafs defenseman T.J. Brodie was called for delay of game for batting the puck over the Panthers' bench and the glass behind the bench, into the stands. How often do we see that called when players are that close to the bench? Hardly ever. Even the broadcast team at Sportsnet commented that the call was a poor one, given the puck's trajectory. It would have hit the glass had they been in an area with glass above the boards. Nevertheless, the Leafs managed to kill it off, but a few missed calls on Florida in the extra frame ultimately led to another heartbreaking end to the playoffs for the Leafs.
To add insult to injury, shortly after the Leafs killed off the Brodie penalty, the Panthers gained the Leafs' zone and, as Jarnkrok was getting into position to block the shot from Cousins, Radko Gudas surged through to the front of the net, getting his stick between the feet of Jarnkrok, knocking him off-balance. Gudas gave him a shove, which sent him sliding out of the way to clear the lane for Cousins. Interference, right? Wrong. No arm went up and the play went on. Gudas wasn't done with the clear cut rule infractions there. He also grabbed ahold of Jarnkrok's stick to prevent him from being able to knock the puck down in the scoring lane.
Of course, as usual, the officials have two sets of rules: 1 set for the Leafs and 1 set for the rest of the league. It's infuriating that we're even talking about this today, as the officials routinely talk about not wanting to decide the outcome of important games, but going out and deciding the outcome of important games by refusing to make the obvious calls.
