Welcome to the NHL, Vegas Golden Knights.
Oh, sure, the Knights have played two full seasons in the league, but their real initiation was Tuesday night, when the team and fan base were slapped with a call that will have them griping for decades.
“Remember when we got screwed in 2019?” is what a 50-year-old Vegas fan will be exclaiming in 2047.
Cody Eakin’s phantom major penalty on Joe Pavelski is a doozy of a blown call. It’s also a mistake that easily could have been avoided if the league would grant its officials the same opportunity it gives its coaches.
A video review challenge.
Coaches can challenge offside and goalie interference. Goals are automatically reviewed. So why not let officials review everything else?
I’m not suggesting we have the zebras constantly scurrying to the screens in the penalty box to double check their work. Instead, give them one Officials Challenge per game.
At game speed on Tuesday in San Jose, not a single official saw a penalty. But they did see Pavelski lying on the ice bleeding through his helmet. So they assumed there must have been an extreme foul and gave Eakin a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
If they had an Officials Challenge, they could have looked at the play, confirmed there was no need to assess a major penalty (or any penalty, really), and a series-changing controversial call would have been avoided.
Think about all the uses. Was that puck tipped before it went over the glass? Look at the replay. Did that high stick come from an opponent or a teammate? Look at the replay.
No one wants to get the calls right more than the officials. Let’s give them every chance to do it.
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