Another day, another supposed officiating controversy.
A few nights after Maple Leafs fans were chanting "Refs you suck" for not calling a goalie interference penalty on Sam Bennett that sent Anthony Stolarz out of Game 1 on a stretcher, fans in Vegas were chanting "Refs you suck" just as Oilers captain Connor McDavid set up Leon Draisaitl for the OT winner in a game that was once again marred by a missed call.
Get used to hearing that chant. More and more, it has become the unofficial soundtrack of the playoffs.
It cannot be a good look for an NHL that should be celebrating the highlight-reel heroics of McDavid and Draisaitl — not wondering whether the outcome of Game 2 would have been different had refs called a penalty on Viktor Arvidsson for tripping Brayden McNabb on the previous shift.
“(The ref is) looking at it. He blew it, he missed the call," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters after the 5-4 loss.
"I don't know what else to say. It's a can-opener trip. It's a dangerous play. It's all those things, but it didn't get called."
What is a penalty? What isn't? Do we even know anymore?
Don't ask the fans, because they have given up trying to understand.
Here's the thing: the NHL does not have an officiating problem. Rather, they have a problem with officiating in the playoffs, where the standard of what is — and what isn't — a penalty hasn't really changed from the regular season. What has changed from the regular season is that the games are far more physical and nasty.
Therein lies the problem.
This isn't the 1990s, when old-school refs like Brian Lewis used to issue "one-minute penalties" (AKA, a stern warning) and coined the term "G.N.C" for looking the other way on what he called "good non-calls."
The refs haven't put away their whistles. This isn't prison rules hockey.
There has been an average of 8.2 penalties per game so far in the playoffs. That's up from 6.8 penalties per game in the regular season. In other words, refs are blowing their whistles more than they did in the regular season. The problem is they are blowing them so frequently that when they have to take an eventual breath, another penalty gets missed.
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Unfortunately for Vegas, which is now down 0-2 to the Edmonton, it might have cost them the series.
"It stings to lose that way," Cassidy said.
The first round has been a blood bath. There have been far more hits than in a typical regular-season game. There have also been more crosschecks, more slashes, more gloved punches, elbows, hooks, holds and you name it.
Officials are trying to make the calls and police the game to the best of their abilities. But with so many players taking liberties with one another, it's nearly impossible for the refs to keep up with everything and more than a few infractions are slipping through the cracks.
In fact, there were nine penalties called in Game 2 between Vegas and Edmonton. That included a five-minute major to Nicolas Roy in overtime for a cross-checking Trent Frederic in the face. But referees didn't catch them all.
They never will be able to. Not as long as the playoffs continue to be this physical.
