“Some bad calls out there,” said Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau after Minnesota was dealt a 1-0 loss in Columbus Thursday night.
Minnesota tied the game 1-1 on a goal by Erik Haula before NHL replay officials reversed the call. They ruled no goal because the puck found the back of the net after Haula kicked it off a Columbus player’s skate.
Boudreau explained what happened. You can listen to his reasoning via @Pondcast on Twitter.
“An opposing player cannot kick the puck and deflect off any other player,” said Boudreau, reciting the definition of the rule. “First of all, the puck wasn’t kicked at the net. He was trying to kick it up to his skate because it was going five feet wide, and they put it in their own net. I don’t see how, in Toronto, they’re calling it unless it’s a guy they just pulled in off the street that hasn’t seen hockey before.”
According to the Star Tribune, Haula called it the “worst rule I’ve ever heard.”
Boudreau became even more furious when Martin Hanzal was called for an elbowing penalty with 1:23 left in the third period.
“You want to give Hanzal an elbowing penalty for that in front of the net, that’s great, but you’ve got to give an embellishing penalty for the goaltender for throwing his head back as if somebody just shot a bullet and hit him in the head.”
“Freaking awful,” Boudreau added.
Minnesota is now 41-15-6 on the season. Of their 21 total losses, 16 are by one goal.
The Wild will try to keep their streak of avoiding two straight losses going when they host San Jose on Sunday. Minnesota hasn’t lost two consecutive games since early November.
