Hurricanes defeat Islanders in overtime after getting away with blatant high stick
It’s another day in the NHL playoffs, which of course means we have another officiating controversy.
NHL referees notoriously swallow the whistles in spring, and Wednesday’s victim of a painful no-call was the New York Islanders, who fell 4-3 in overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jesper Fast’s goal … a tally that seemingly should have never happened.
Just moments before Fast’s goal, the Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook caught Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield in the face with his stick, which should have triggered a New York power play. Except officials missed the call (or chose to ignore it). Mayfield clutched at his face and appeared to be out of position as the Hurricanes quickly reorganized, with Jordan Staal zipping a cross-ice pass to Fast for the winner.
Mayfield and Islander coach Lane Lambert both expressed their displeasure with the non-call on the ice. Mayfield didn’t meet with the media because he was receiving medical attention, an Islanders spokesperson told The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz.
“You know what? I just saw a snippet of it,” Lambert said after the game. “Clearly (Mayfield) had some issues and was trying to recover.”
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The Islanders were assessed four penalties (12 minutes) to the Hurricanes’ one, and Carolina had a 6-0 advantage in power-play opportunities during the game.
Sebastian Aho scores for Hurricanes. No, not the one on the team.
Contributing: Associated Press
Panthers 6, Bruins 3
BOSTON (AP) – Brandon Montour scored twice and the Florida Panthers had four third-period goals to beat the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins 6-3 on Wednesday night and send Boston to its first loss in 10 games.