The referees are already in mid-season form; Leafs robbed of a powerplay on a textbook missed call
We're not even a week into the 2022-23 season and already we've seen some brutal missed calls and some shocking calls from NHL officials around the league. Perhaps one of the most obvious, blatant missed calls occurred during last night's Leafs/Sens game.
With a game as close as the Leafs/Sens game was last night, nobody wants to have the game decided by a penalty call, least of all the officials, who are under enough public scrutiny already. Having said that, there are some calls that just have to be made just based on the merit of how they're outlined in the NHL rulebook.
One such play occurred in the third period of last night's game, with Mark Kastelic looking to clear a centering attempt by William Nylander with Anton Forsberg well out of the net. The problem with the play? Kastelic fired the puck directly over the glass - a textbook delay of game penalty. No arm went up, no call was made.
The problem with this one is that it's not something that is open to interpretation. There's no "referee's discretion" involved in a delay of game penalty. If a puck is fired over the glass in the defensive zone, the player responsible is issued a penalty. It's automatic.
Bad look for the officials there, but thankfully it did not cost the Leafs the game. Had the decision gone the other way, that's certainly something that would have been talked about more than it has been.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 16 | 442 ANSWERS The referees are already in mid-season form; Leafs robbed of a powerplay on a textbook missed call Should coaches be able to challenge missed penalty calls? | ||
| Yes | 333 | 75.3 % |
| No | 109 | 24.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
