Clip Emerges Showing McDavid Getting Preferential Treatment During Power Play Against Leafs
Officials turned a blind eye to Connor McDavid's interference on John Tavares during an Oilers' power play on Saturday.
While the Leafs were killing off the match penalty assessed to Ryan Reaves for his danger and predatory hit on Darnell Nurse on Saturday evening, the officials ignored a very clear penalty on Connor McDavid that would have had the two sides playing 4-on-4.
At the time, John Tavares had lost his stick and was chasing down McDavid as he skated towards the slot, McDavid passed the puck to the corner and then swept away Tavares' stick away from him and out of the path of a potential slot pass. This is expressly forbidden in the NHL rulebook.
In the past, we have seen players called for knocking the stick out of opposing players' hands and called for interference. A penalty is also called when a player swats a downed stick away from a player. In this case, McDavid should have been called for interference in playing Tavares' stick away from him.
While players are allowed to clear sticks out of the way of play without penalty, when it is near the player that dropped it and/or if there is an attempt to pick it up and the opposing team clears it, it should technically be called an interference penalty.
Thankfully, the missed call didn't hurt the Leafs as they were able to kill off the entire 5-minute power play. Had the Oilers scored, however, the missed call on McDavid likely would have faced much more scrutiny from the media and fans, especially since it would have given the Oilers a 3-1 lead.
The NHL continues to preach consistency publicly, but the lack of it during games and in cases where supplemental discipline is handed down has fans and players confused about what is and is not a penalty or suspension at times. It is certainly something the league needs to do a better job of standardizing, especially in the playoffs.
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