Poor officiating partially to blame for Leafs loss; Keefe not happy with the calls
Another Leafs loss, another string of long-winded tirades about the NHL officiating on social media following a game in which the Leafs outshot the opposition 53-24. I swear, the Leafs get goalie'd more than any team in the league.
Alright, levity and sarcasm aside, the Leafs' matchup against the Vancouver Canucks on Hockey Night in Canada was one where the officiating was legitimately suspect, and it started right off the hop, less than two minutes into the game on a J.T. Miller goal.
The Leafs had missed an opportunity at the opposite end of the ice, which led to a Bo Horvat rush coming back the other way. Horvat drove the net hard as Leafs netminder Petr Mrazek reached out to poke the puck away. Mrazek got spun around on the play, with the loose puck finding Miller in the slot and he made no mistake. Here's the play:
After the goal, Mrazek shot up and gestured to the officials that Horvat had spun him around and taken him out of position on the play, implying goaltender interference. Mrazek was at the top of his crease at the moment of contact and Horvat made no real attempt to avoid a brushing collision with the goaltender.
Ultimately, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe elected not to challenge for goalie interference, which was a bit surprising, given the fact that he may have had a case.
Following the conclusion of the game and a 3-2 loss for his team despite the Leafs controlling the vast majority of the chances, Keefe explained why he decided not to challenge.
"The official told us that he actually had a tripping penalty to Mrazek on the play, which gave us pretty good insight into their mindset and the feedback they would be giving to the NHL war room."
In the end, that was the game's deciding goal. It was through no fault of the Canucks, who never gave up, but that's certainly one that the officials made it tough go even want to challenge. After all, if the Leafs had challenged unsuccessfully, not only would they be penalized for the Mrazek trip, but also delay of game, giving the Canucks a full 2-minute 5-on-3 in the opening 90 seconds of the game.
There were several missed calls during the game and the penalty scaling ended up favoring the Canucks (of course), allowing them 5 power plays to the Leafs' 3, but two of the most glaring missed calls occurred in the 3rd period with the Leafs down a goal. One a slash/hook on a William Nylander breakaway and the other being a clear interference penalty on Jason Spezza as he was impeded from challenging for the puck he had just flipped into the corner.
In the end, nothing can or will be done and the two points goes to the Canucks who, to their credit, just wouldn't go away all night. Forget about it and onto the next one.
