NHL officials at it again; Marner boarded right in front of Graham Skilliter, was left bloodied and no call was made
Another Leafs game with Graham Skilliter officiating and, wouldn't you know it, another controversial non-call on a very blatant penalty. The culprit? Dylan DeMelo. The victim? Mitch Marner - and Skilliter had an excellent view of the entire sequence.
During a Leafs power play near the end of the first period, Marner was trying to protect the puck along the boards when DeMelo ran him in the numbers, sending Marner face-first into the boards, leaving him in pain on the ice and bloodied. The official staring straight at the play? Skilliter, of course.
Marner was frustrated that the officials didn't stop play, resulting in the puck being cleared out of the zone. The Markham, ON native made it back to his feet and skated off, clearly shaken up and upset with the lack of a call on a very clear penalty. Marner tossed his helmet and slammed the door in disgust.
Granted, DeMelo isn't the dirtiest player around, but you have to know, when your opponent is in a vulnerable position, you have to let up on the hit to avoid potentially injuring the player. That one, while certainly not a great look, could have ended much, much worse. Had Marner been another foot away from the boards, we're talking about a potential serious injury. For the officials, Graham Skilliter in particular, that's simply a call that you have to make.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 22 | 466 ANSWERS NHL officials at it again; Marner boarded right in front of Graham Skilliter, was left bloodied and no call was made Should the NHL reprimand officials who are caught not doing their jobs? | ||
| Yes | 392 | 84.1 % |
| No | 26 | 5.6 % |
| At least make them available to the media | 48 | 10.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
