When a team has 15 wins through its first 23 games, it’s tough to find many glaring issues. One thing, however, that sticks out with the Boston Bruins is officiating.
Officiating was on full display Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild. The referees called seven total penalties against the Bruins. This is a team that only averages a little over three penalties per game this season, slightly below the league average.
One of the calls was for matching penalties between Brad Marchand and Matt Dumba, so maybe we can say there were only six penalties. But then again, Zdeno Chara had a double minor, so let’s call it an even seven.
The Bruins certainly deserved some of the calls. They didn’t have their skating legs in the first period, and they had four minor penalties as a result. That said, many of the calls were ticky-tack hooking and tripping penalties.
On top of that, the Wild had a few similar plays that the referees overlooked. After Patrice Bergeron went to the box for tripping, one of the Wild forwards did pretty much the same exact thing to Matt Grzelcyk. There was no call on the play.
All these power plays almost doomed the Bruins. Minnesota came in to the game with one of the league’s worst offenses, so we didn’t expect them to score much against Boston’s tough defense and goaltending. The Wild used the power play to overcome this.
The Wild jumped out to an early lead in the first period on the power play, and then they used the power play to extend their lead to two in the second.
Given Minnesota’s success on the power play, it’s no surprise Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy was critical of the referees after the game.
Cassidy: “There was a time in the game where [referees] Peel and Kozari were their best players tonight.”
— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) November 24, 2019
This was a funny quote from the Bruins coach, and fittingly it was Boston with the last laugh against the Wild.
Late in the third period, after David Krejci cut Minnesota’s lead to one, the referees whistled Luke Kunin of the Wild for tripping. He did trip a Bruin, but honestly this was a tough call so late in the game.
The Bruins did not let this opportunity go to waste, and Krejci fired home a one-timer on the power play to tie the game. Boston eventually won the game in overtime thanks to Torey Krug’s heroics.
So, when we say that officiating played a big role in the game, we really mean it. The referees helped even the talent mismatch between Boston and Minnesota early on. Then, they seemed to give the Bruins the extra nudge needed to tie the game.
At the end of the day, nobody ever wants officiating to be the center of attention. But, if it ultimately evens out, we’ll take it.