Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
A decision made by the referees Thursday night at the Bell Centre, during the game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres, is causing a lot of buzz.
Thursday night at the Bell Centre, a sequence indeed sparked numerous reactions on social media.
Late in the game against the Buffalo Sabres, Zachary Bolduc takes a shot to the face-and he’s the one who ends up in the penalty box!
We’re talking about a two-minute minor for roughing, even though he’s the one who took a vicious punch to the face from defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
François Gagnon, among others, doesn’t understand the penalty assessment and especially points to the name Rasmus Dahlin in the sequence.
“I don’t really understand the penalty assessment. Bolduc deserved two minutes, that’s clear. But it seems to me that it was Dahlin, not Bolduc, who should have been given the additional two minutes… but oh well!”
– Francois Gagnon
“The referees are putting on quite a show this week at the Bell Centre. Bolduc takes a solid punch to the face from Dahlin and still gets two minutes for roughing.
It’s becoming completely ridiculous, these repeated phantom penalties.”
– Kevin LeFrancois
Zachary Bolduc at the center of a controversial sequence, with defenseman Rasmus Dahlin
The problem is the domino effect.
A penalty called on the wrong player, in the final minutes, can truly change everything.
The Canadiens have already lived through this recently, with phantom penalties that break the rhythm at the worst possible moment (hello to Lane Hutson).
When you’re in a tight race and every point counts in the standings, you don’t want to have to battle the officials too.
What shocks fans the most isn’t the idea that a referee can make a mistake.
It’s the repetition, and the feeling that it always happens at the worst time, often at the Bell Centre.
And all of this is without even counting this, which wasn’t even called as a penalty on Jason Zucker.
The referees have to do better!
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