A confusing penalty no-call from the referees penalized the Flyers. John Tortorella, known for his hot temper, was absolutely furious, and videos of him erupting in anger on the bench quickly made the rounds on social media.
The Flyers were down 5-4 with less than ten minutes remaining in the game against the Red Wings on Wednesday, and they desperately looked for an equalizer.
They briefly thought they would get the chance to play on the powerplay as the referee raised his hand to signal a penalty on a Detroit player. However, the official changed his mind in a heartbeat and lowered his arm.
John Tortorella loses it
The Flyers misunderstood what had just happened. A player jumped onto the ice as the Flyers pulled their goalie, believing there was a delayed penalty. When the Red Wings gained possession of the puck, play continued, and shortly after, the Flyers were instead called for a penalty because they had six men on the ice. To no one’s surprise, John Tortorella was livid.
The head coach, known for his hot temper, absolutely lost it on the bench, slamming his hands and screaming at the referees. The officials eventually came to their senses and canceled the Flyers’ penalty call, allowing play to continue with both teams having five skaters on the ice.
Fans slams the referees
The Flyers ultimately lost the game 6-4, and Tortorella wasn’t happy afterward. He didn’t mince his words when talking about his team’s performance. On social media, fans found his reaction to the confusing penalty no-call hilarious, with many claiming they had never seen anything like it happen in the NHL.
“Torts going into the upside down,” one user said, getting a lot of likes for his comment.
“That was probably the angriest I have ever seen Torts,” another said.
“Never seen anything like this in my life lol. NHL reffing in a nutshell, zero explanation and just pretend it never happened,” a third added.
“Thank god they didn’t actually penalize Philly. I think Torts might’ve actually jumped on the ice to kill the ref,” a fourth added.
READ MORE: Buffalo Sabres’ social media admin’s response now goes viral
