A horrible missed call by the referees cost the Wild Game 4 as they lost 2-0 to the Winnipeg Jets in St. Paul Tuesday night.
The tide of the game turned late in the first period when Minnesota was on the power play, and Eric Staal of the Wild dropped to the ice after taking a violent cross-check to the side of his head.
Cross-check to the head of Eric Staal goes uncalled. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/T021jpauJB
— Giles Ferrell (@gilesferrell) April 18, 2018
No penalty was called on what NBC Sports’ Jeremy Roenick called a “suspension-worthy” cross-check by Josh Morrissey.
Instead of the Wild being rewarded with an even longer power play, including at least 10 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage, the Jets were allowed to get back to full strength and they scored a short time later to take a 1-0 lead.
“My take is the same take as everyone in the building. The refs saw it and decided not to call it because we were already on the power play,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Cost us the game.”
The game remained 1-0 in favor of the Jets until they added an empty-net goal in the waning seconds of the third period.
Had the call been made on Morrissey, the Jets likely don’t score and at the worst the game would’ve been tied 0-0 deep into the game.
Related:
Even if the NHL apologizes on behalf of the referees it won’t matter. Minnesota is now down 3 games to 1 in the best-of-seven series with Game 5 returning to Winnipeg on Friday.
Boudreau says missed call on Morrissey crosscheck cost the Wild the game.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 18, 2018
