The saying goes that the officials put their whistles away in the playoffs and let the players decide things for themselves. That hasn’t really been the case in this year’s playoffs, but it was late in the third period between the Islanders and Panthers.
With the goalie pulled, the Islanders were in desperation mode and were trying anything to strip the Panthers of the puck. That included two efforts which could have easily been called trips.
Are these penalties?
@VoiceOverDan like, I don't know hockey or…https://t.co/XlFakjLl98
— Dan Sharfin (@VoiceOverDan) April 25, 2016
The first instance looks like a pretty clear trip which should have been given a penalty as it denied what could have been a scoring chance on the empty net. The second instance is a lot more difficult to make out as it’s unclear whether or not the Islanders got any of the puck prior/during the trip.
As you might expect, the Islanders went on to tie the game before eventually winning in overtime.
There are always going to be questionable calls and non-calls in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the lack of consistency (some games have been called tight, others not so much) lead to situations like this one where it seems like a glaring mistake by the officials.
Putting the whistle away for the playoffs should refer to the questionable, borderline calls. Just call the obvious stuff … such as a clear trip (possibly two) which denied a team a shot on an empty net.
