Wednesday’s game between the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs was a thriller, ending in an OT win for Toronto. But afterward, most of the discussion was about the officials and the four reviews they made during the game, including three overturns.
Many felt that the Capitals were robbed of what should’ve been deemed a good goal to get a 3-1 lead.
In the second period, the Capitals thought they had secured a 3-1 lead through a John Carlson goal. But Toronto head coach Craig Berube challenged the goal for goalie interference.
After the review, the officials decided that Capitals forward Nic Dowd had interfered with Leafs goalie Joseph Woll in his crease, and the goal was overturned.
Goalie interference for Washington Capitals
On social media, fans were furious about the goalie interference call (seen at the bottom of the text), with many claiming it had no effect on Woll and his ability to stop the puck.
”I’m a Leaf fan and imo the contact had 0 impact on the play. It was going in regardless,” one user said on social media.
”That is charmin ultra soft,” another said.
”The idiots reviewing this stuff have no consistency, no standards and absolutely no idea what they’re doing. It’s a coin flip whether blatant goalie interference will be called or whether clean goals will be disallowed,” a third added.
Craig Berube lost it
Many also had in mind that Matthew Tkachuk, just weeks ago, skated right into a goalie before taking his stick. Tkachuk then cross-checked the goalie before slotting home a rebound – but it was deemed a good goal.
”It’s not the fact they called this, it’s the fact they’ve let way more obvious GI-goals stand this season alone,” one user said.
Not long after the goalie interference call, officials initially called Matthew Knies for a high-sticking double-minor. But after review, they decided that Nic Dowd had skated into Knies’ shoulder, freeing him from any penalty.
In the third period, it was Toronto’s time to get a goal overturned, as officials thought that Steven Lorentz had used his leg to deliberately kick the puck in the net. Craig Berube was furious on the bench.
”The one Lorentz scored, I don’t understand that call,” he said post-game. ”Because if you look at the rule, the kicking motion is a skate, right. This wasn’t a skate. It was a shin pad. So I don’t get it. But guys stuck with it. They weren’t focused on it, they just focused on the next shift, which is good by them.”
Toronto won in overtime
In the third period, Matthew Knies tipped a shot from Morgan Rielly, but once again, the officials decided to watch the replay – and they found that Knies’ stick had made contact with the puck while being above the crossbar, therefore overturning the goal again.
Eventually, Toronto found a way to tie the game 3-3, and in overtime, they got the extra point. On social media, however, many felt that officials had ruined the game with all of the reviews. Terry Koshan, a Leafs writer for the Toronto Sun, perhaps described it best.
”All of these reviews should be under review,” he wrote on X.
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