The Toronto Maple Leafs have their first lead of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they owe part of it to a controversial call that went their way in the first period of Game 3.
At the 16:58 mark of the opening frame, the officials called a “delay of game” penalty on Riley Nash, after he seemingly flipped the puck straight over the glass in his own end. But after further review, it’s pretty clear that the puck went off the glass before going over.
[NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub]
The referees talked about it, but decided to give Nash the penalty anyway. Have a look for yourself:
And just seven seconds later, Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk found the back of the net to give his team a 1-0 lead.
"They just took advantage of a bad and missed call by the officials...that went off the glass. It should be able to be challenged, but it's not part of the criteria." - Pierre McGuire on delay of game penalty which led to Toronto's power play goal, 1-0 Maple Leafs after 1st https://t.co/TUGNhfGBIE
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) April 16, 2018
Former NHL referee Kerry Fraser weighed in on the call too:
I always coached Officials to retreat from BUT to FACE THE PUCK...not to duck or turn back on play. 2 Reasons: 1) can defend with arms/hands/elbows or move head w/eyes on puck. 2) can folllow flight of puck #overglass
— Kerry Fraser (@kfraserthecall) April 16, 2018
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.