Moments ago in tonight's game between the Panthers and Bruins, the referees made a literally unbelievable mistake. Sam Bennett scored on a play with clear goalie interference, but the goal was allowed to stand.
Bennett clearly cross checked Charlie Coyle into the Bruins goaltender, giving him the time and space to shoot the pick into a glaring empty net. Coyle fell onto Swayman and completely took him out of the play, and directly according to the NHL rule book, that is a play that must be called as goalie interference.
For the referees to make a mistake of this magnitude in a playoff game is simply unbelievable, and should be reprehensible. To miss such a basic portion of the rule that could contribute to a goal that alters a playoff game is gross negligence by the referees.
The officiating has been a large part of discussion in these NHL playoffs so far, not only in the Florida/Boston series but especially in the Oilers and Canucks as well. Refereeing is a hard job, of course, but when it comes to missing rules with video replay and time to review - it's simply unacceptable.
