WINNIPEG – It was an emotional and heated game between the Winnipeg Jets and Tampa Bay Lighting Thursday night.
The Winnipeg Jets head coach was ejected from the game, and fans are not happy about the call.
It came after a pair of questionable hits from Lighting defenseman Anton Stralman on Jets players Nikolaj Ehlers and Bryan Little in the second period. One of the hits left Little injured and he was unable to play the rest of the game. No calls were made on the ice.
Paul Maurice was livid and did not hide it. He began yelling at the referees from the bench, which landed him a minor penalty.
Heading into the third period, Maurice was still furious. One of the officials, Francois St. Laurent skated over to the bench, and that’s when the exchange became heated. The two had a stare down, and Maurice shared some angry words. The referee had enough and booted him from the game. After the call, you can see the Jets coach yelling, “both two dirty hits.”
And just when fans thought it couldn’t get more emotional, when Maurice walks out of the game, St. Laurent starts smiling on the ice.
The Jets ended up losing in a shootout to the Lightning for a 6-5 final.
The call has been getting a lot of reaction online. Many people are saying it was an unprofessional call, and others siding with the referee.
The Facebook group, Fans of the Winnipeg Jets started a post calling out the “unprofessional referee”. Here are some of the comments.
