Ahead of Wednesday’s matchup between the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche, all of the talking was about the battle of superstars Quinn Hughes of the Canucks, and the Avalanche’s Cale Makar.
The both defensemen have been the best players in the league this year. Earlier this week, Quinn Hughes became the first defenseman since Bobby Orr 1973-1974 to be the first player in the league to 30 points, and Cale Makar only trailed him by three points.
But after the game, the talk was more about the officiating than something else. In a testy second period, Josh Manson was ejected from the game. The Avalanche defenseman were battling in front of his own net with Brock Boeser, when he received a cross check.
Boeser was served a two-minute minor for the cross-check, but Manson retaliated by getting his stick up high. Boeser went down to the ice, and Manson received a five-minute major and a game misconduct, following a lengthy review.
It didn’t look all that violent on the replays, and Manson made sure to let his opponent know what he thought about the incident. As they both sat in their respective penalty boxes, Manson accused Boeser of embellishing the call, with gestures of mockery.
It was actually hilariously done, and the announcers even suggested he deserved an Oscar for it.
The Canucks tied the game 2-2 in the ensuing 4-on-4, but they didn’t score anymore in the game.
The Avalanche scored three, and after the game, that ended 5-2, coaches and teammates were disappointed with the refs who called the major penalty for Manson.
“My first instinct was, Boeser goes at him with the cross-check and he goes a little bit higher and their arms ride up,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “I didn’t think there was a lot there.”
Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev agreed.
“I didn’t feel like it was a huge thing,” he said. “Maybe the league and the refs can review it and see if it was worth a big major and a game misconduct.”
