Officiating plays a key role in Game 5 loss for the Leafs; no less than 4 missed calls against the Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning have officially extended their Round 1 series against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, winning by a score of 4-2 thanks in part to subpar goaltending from Ilya Samsonov and to the officials, who essentially gift-wrapped Game 5 for Tampa by refusing to make the calls they just had to make.
If you watched the game, you'll know the plays I'm talking about, but if you'd care for a refresher, here are several clips where plays were either not called, or penalties that were not sufficient as 2-minute calls.
On top of these 3, there was also a play in the first period where Matthews was tripped while leading the charge on the rush with a penalty already pending that should have led to a 5-on-3 for the Leafs.
In addition, Leafs rookie Matthew Knies took a high stick along the wall with 1:30 to go in a 1-goal game.
Again - no referee wants to decide the outcome of a series, but with these missed calls in combination with the gongshow that was Game 1 under Wes McCauley, the officials may have done just that.
The Leafs still have 2 games ahead against Tampa and can still close out the series, but if the officials are just going to allow Tampa to play with complete impunity, it won't be Leafs vs Lightning - it will be Leafs vs Lightning and referees.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 27 | 786 ANSWERS Officiating plays a key role in Game 5 loss for the Leafs; no less than 4 missed calls against the Lightning What was the biggest factor in Thursday's loss to Tampa? | ||
| Goaltending | 134 | 17 % |
| Officiating | 291 | 37 % |
| A little of both | 361 | 45.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
