There was no shortage of debatable calls (or, in some cases, no-calls) in the Bruins-Lightning Eastern Conference semifinals series.
And one questionable hit briefly left Boston without its top defenseman during its eventual 3-2, double-overtime loss to Tampa Bay in Game 5 on Monday night.
Charlie McAvoy dashed to play the puck at the end boards, with Cedric Paquette trailing him. As McAvoy approached the boards, he was hit from behind by Paquette in a collision that could be argued was boarding.
No penalty was given, to the chagrin of the Bruins.
“Yeah, I mean we had hoped there’d be something there, but there wasn’t, so not our series to get those calls,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game. “But at the end of the day, we did have a power play late in the game, third period, so we had an opportunity to win it on the power play. Unfortunately weren’t able to generate enough. But yeah, I would hope something came up, but it didn’t. We saw that hit on (Karson) Kuhlman, too, the other day, nothing happened. So that’s hockey some nights.”
The Bruins’ issues against the Lightning extended far beyond a few calls, but getting a power play in that situation nevertheless would’ve boosted their chances of possibly winning the game in regulation and extending the series.
