There was more than one controversial moment during Saturday’s game between the L.A. Kings and Ottawa Senators.
Sens defenseman Mark Borowiecki was given a major penalty for slamming Tyler Toffoli from behind into the boards, causing the Kings forward to undergo the league’s concussion protocol before he eventually returned to the game.
Later in the evening, there was a report from Darren Dreger of TSN that the Senators are protesting the Kings’ third goal of the game, which came with two seconds left in the second period. It was a pivotal moment in the game, as L.A. took a two-goal lead into the third period, before eventually winning 4-1.
Clock slow to start beginning of 2nd in LA. 6 second delay. Adjustment made, but not enough. Kings scored end of period with 2 sec left...
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 10, 2016
...obviously had the clock functioned properly the late goal wouldn't have been scored. #controversy.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 10, 2016
Senators coach Guy Boucher didn’t place blame on a clock issue, but instead he put the onus on his team to not get scored on in that situation late in the period.
“I’ll be honest with you, at that point for us we’ve just got to shut it down. We keep it at 1, it wasn’t about getting a goal there it was about getting off the ice. We had done the job in the second period, we had looked very good, we had the momentum, we needed to get into the third period with a one-goal lead. We’ve done it so many times this year coming back so I was confident we could come back, so no. I’m not looking at clocks, I’m not looking at penalties, I’m looking at ourselves just doing better.
The Kings now begin a stretch of nine games away from home. They play seven of those games before the holiday break, before resuming the trip on Dec. 28 versus the Canucks. The trip ends the following night in Edmonton.
Updated: Here is further clarification from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: