The Toronto Maple Leafs react to late penalty calls in their 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered their second loss of the regular season, a 3-2 defeat to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena.
Toronto had a solid performance, especially offensively in the second period, putting up 14 shots to Ottawa's four in that middle frame. There were also some moments on the power play during the game where the Maple Leafs looked very threatening and converted on one of the four opportunities they had in the outing.
The power-play marker, scored in the second period, was by Kirill Marchenko, netting his first goal since being traded to the Maple Leafs.
In addition to his goal, the Russian also took two minor penalties. One was a slashing minor in the first period, and the other was a high-sticking penalty on Senators center Tim Stutzle in the third.
The second penalty was deemed slightly controversial, given Stutzle's reputation for embellishment in the NHL. Leafs captain Auston Matthews made a diving motion with his hand after the penalty was called, giving his opinion on a decision that tilted momentum in Ottawa's favor.
"I don't know, I mean, the refs obviously see what they see, and it's a quick game, and you have to respect that," Matthews said of the call after the game. "But I think we could definitely do a better job just with our sticks there. And it's like a high-sticking penalty, tripping penalty, just being better with our sticks."
Marchenko began his post-game media availability by apologizing for taking that penalty. Ottawa didn't officially score a power-play goal from that penalty, but they did score as the penalty expired, with Toronto essentially still having four players on the ice.
"My penalty, I apoligize for that," he said.
In terms of the decision, the left winger doesn't totally agree with the call. And while he doesn't agree with the ruling that was enforced on the ice, he says it's not an excuse and takes responsibility for his undisciplined actions.
"Actually, I don't see anything," Marchenko said of the high-sticking penalty on Stutzle. "Battle on the puck. I think it's just put his stick and my stick touch his face and he's kind of like dive, not dive. I don't want to say anything about it, but yeah, it's penalty. Penalty is penalty and it's on me. I can play better next time on this moment, but yeah, what I can do, just try to win the pucks."
Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller said he wasn't pleased, not by the decisions of the officials, but by the number of penalties his team took. He noted specifically that the two late in the game, one by Marchenko and the other by Jack Roslovic, really hurt the team.
"Some careless penalties," the bench boss noted. "I thought the two penalties in the third period really hurt us. Just took our momentum away a little bit, gave them some life, and they pushed hard."
Particularly on the Marchenko penalty, "I haven't looked at it that closely," Hiller said. "But it's a stick battle. A stick comes up. It's, you know, it's a penalty. That's just the way it works. Got to keep your stick down."
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