Let’s be clear: The Bruins didn’t lose Game 4 Saturday night because of the officiating. The refs aren’t the reason the Bruins scored only one goal, struggled to create quality chances throughout the game, or registered zero shots on goal in the final six minutes as they tried to come back from a goal down.
And, it’s worth noting that the Bruins did actually end up with more power plays than the Islanders in the game (3-2).
That said, there is a strong argument to be made that the Bruins deserved at least a few more power plays than they got, as the Islanders got away with quite a bit.
In the second period, David Krejci got a well-deserved two minutes in the box for lifting his stick into Mathew Barzal’s groin, but that came only after Barzal got away with four uncalled crosschecks to Krejci’s back -- something officials had been cracking down on throughout this postseason, until Saturday apparently.
Jeremy Lauzon and Chris Wagner were both on the receiving end of high-sticks that should have been easy calls but were instead either unnoticed or ignored. Late in the second, Brock Nelson hit Charlie McAvoy into the boards from behind, but that too went uncalled. McAvoy wound up getting called for high-sticking later on the same shift.
After the game, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about the questionable no-calls.
“I think the whole playoffs we haven’t got very many calls to put us on the power play,” Cassidy said. “I think we certainly have enough that we’ve taken. Some of them have been lack of discipline, some were too many men on the ice that they have to call, a couple over the glass. But I certainly think the infractions, we haven’t got, like I said, a lot of calls to go our way that were the borderline ones, even some non-borderline.
“I mean, Chris Wagner almost got his head taken off right in front of the net, high stick. You see the referee looking at it and they don’t call it. They see what they see. You can’t do anything about it. You hope that comes around. You keep playing hard, earn your calls. We’re not gonna bitch about it. It is what it is. Hopefully we’ll start getting the ones that we deserve, and take advantage of it. That’s all you can do.”
Cassidy’s claim about not getting many calls all postseason doesn’t quite hold up statistically, although the Bruins have had more penalties called against them than in their favor. While the Bruins have taken penalties at the fourth-highest rate this postseason (4.38 per 60 minutes), they’ve also drawn calls at the sixth-highest rate (3.97 per 60).
Still, Cassidy certainly has a point about Saturday’s game in particular.
Krejci was also asked about the officiating after the game, and specifically the incident with Barzal.
“Obviously wasn’t happy about it,” Krejci said. “He went down pretty easily, but it is what it is. Just put it behind us, that game, make some adjustments and be better next game.”
Related
