Jakub Voracek was not pleased with the officiating in the early goings of Monday night’s Bruins-Blue Jackets tilt at Nationwide Arena.
Voracek was issued a 10-minute misconduct penalty for laying into the referees late in the first period of Boston’s eventual overtime win. The winger’s outburst was a result of the officials not stopping play after Brad Marchand issued a big hit along the boards on Andrew Peeke, who was left face-down on the ice after taking the contact. Not only did the refs not blow the whistles, but the B’s capped off the sequence with a game-tying goal from Jake DeBrusk.
Peeke cleared concussion protocol and returned to the game in the second period. But that didn’t stop Voracek from airing out grievances following the Blue Jackets’ loss.
“Sometimes … they just blow it right away,” Voracek told reporters, per The Athletic. “And now, especially when we’re trying to get the head issues or head injuries out of the game, you have a motionless player laying on the ice for a long time and you just let it run out? I mean, for me, that’s inexcusable. That’s why I was so mad because I was worried about Peeker. He hadn’t moved at that time, so.
“They need to have a little better feel for the game at that moment when you see a player getting hurt like that after a collision like this. You’ve got to blow the whistle and go check on him. You can’t just let the play run for 10 or 15 seconds before the trainer can get there. There (are) a lot of things that can happen in that span, so I was upset about that.”
A disheartening defeat in extra time likely added to Voracek’s frustration. DeBrusk’s game-winner handed Columbus its seventh consecutive loss.
