Boston Bruins fans were perplexed Friday night when a non-icing call led to the game-winning goal for the Arizona Coyotes at Mullet Arena.
And Patrice Bergeron thinks it could be up for debate.
The puck hit off the post as it made its way down the ice. Jeremy Swayman decided to not play the puck in hopes of getting the call, but the official waved it off. Matias Maccelli got control of the puck and passed it over to Lawson Crouse who scored the game-winner with just 14 seconds left in the game.
Why it wasn’t called icing is unclear, but head coach Jim Montgomery, Nick Foligno, Swayman and Bergeron all believed it should have been an icing call.
“It happens fast. I think there’s a debate for icing there,” Bergeron told reporters after the game. “But then the linesman is there to make a decision that’s based on a fraction of a second. We’ve got to keep playing, bottom line. You can’t just point fingers and blame it on decisions. That’s the last thing you want to do. I think we’ve got to own it and be better next game.”
Had there been a call, the Bruins would have had an offensive-zone faceoff with 17 seconds left in the game. There’s no guarantee they would have scored, but now the Eastern Conference’s best team will leave Arizona without a point, losing to the Coyotes for the first time since 2010.
“That completely caught me off guard,” Foligno told reporters. “It’s icing all day. I don’t understand how at that point in the game it would be anything different. It’s really just too bad. I don’t get the call.”
It’s a deflating loss, but the Bruins are using it as a “good motivator” going into their final game of the road trip against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night.
