As if hockey fans needed more evidence that the officiating in this year’s NHL playoffs has been questionable at best, here’s a great example from Game 1 between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins.
As time was running out in the second period, the Capitals found themselves in a 2-0 hole and were desperate to try and get the next goal. Apparently that meant throwing as many players on the ice as possible.
The image above, via Reddit Hockey, clearly shows seven Capitals skaters surrounding Olli Maatta. The ol’ 1-on-7 drill. Ironically, the broadcast team was just talking about whether the Penguins should have been called for having too many players on the ice when this occurred.
Teams are given a bit of leeway when making changes. It’s not rare to see six players actually on the ice as long as the extra player isn’t involved in the play and is within a reasonable distance from the bench. Here, it looks like all seven skaters for the Caps are watching the puck and aren’t making any clear attempt to get off the ice.
So, how did the officials all miss this one? All seven Capitals were in the same area and yet no one in stripes saw a problem with all of the red sweaters.
Maybe the Penguins should have taken a page out of the Ottawa Senators’ book when it comes to making the officials recognize there’s too many men on the ice.
Then again all Ottawa had to do to convince the refs to throw a Bruin in the penalty box during that series was to mutter about Dominic Moore smiling too broadly, or complain that Riley Nash’s nose injured Bobby Ryan’s stick when Nash was getting cross-checked in the face. It was basically an officiating pig-pile on Boston all series long.