TAMPA, Fla. — Star winger David Pastrnak said it was “a joke” that his apparent winning overtime goal was nullified because of a penalty in the Boston Bruins’ eventual 6-5 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Sunday’s Stadium Series game.
With the score tied 5-5 in the 3-on-3 overtime, Pastrnak took a pass from forward Marat Khusnutdinov and shot the puck past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. Pastrnak stretched his arms out and celebrated, appearing to win the game at Raymond James Stadium at 4:38 of overtime.
But the goal was quickly waved off. Referee Jon McIsaac called a penalty on Pastrnak for slashing Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser, a sequence that helped the Bruins earn possession of the puck. Instead of scoring the winning goal, Pastrnak was in the penalty box.
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The Lightning didn’t convert on their power play but won the game. Pastrnak had the final attempt in the shootout, but his shot clanged off the goal cage, failing to beat Vasilevskiy.
What frustrated Pastrnak and the Bruins in overtime was a late whistle, which occurred after they had possession of the puck and were skating up ice. Per NHL rules, play should have been stopped as soon as Boston gained possession on a delayed penalty.
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who was standing near McIsaac, started skating to the bench to give Boston an extra attacker because he hadn’t heard a whistle.
“I’m skating up the ice with the ref and his hand’s in the air, and I was like, ‘On who?'” said Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who was on the ice during the overtime sequence. “I couldn’t believe he called another penalty [on us]. We go down with the puck, so I was like, ‘Oh, it’s on them.’ Sway made it halfway to the bench and then he just blew it dead.”
McAvoy said he didn’t hear a whistle to stop play.
“There wasn’t a whistle,” he said. “We skated all the way down to the other end, and he blew it dead. I don’t know, the puck might have already been in the net, and then he blew it dead. So, really, I’m just confused.”
Pastrnak was also confused — and more than a little upset.
“I have no clue what happened, honestly,” he said. “It’s a freaking turnover. We got a 2-and-1. A referee has an arm up and is letting it go. Sway is going to the bench. We finish the play, score a goal, and all of a sudden, I’m in the penalty box. So, [it’s a] joke.
“I don’t understand. I’ve never seen something like that. So, to me, it was [a] joke. I don’t care if that’s a bad answer, but that’s how I feel. It’s weird. Score a goal and end up in the penalty box, but whatever. We gave them two points, and that’s what matters, and that’s tough on us.”
Lightning forward Brandon Hagel, who was defending Pastrnak on the overtime play, was also baffled.
“I didn’t really know what was going on, but I was like, ‘Dang, I got to take a 2-on-1 here.’ I wasn’t very good at it. Thank God it was a penalty,” he said with a laugh. “It was kind of weird. I didn’t really know what was going on. [Nikita Kucherov] just like gave up, the other guy gave up. [I thought] there must be a penalty.”
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said there was no confusion on his bench. Despite Swayman and others not hearing a whistle, Tampa Bay was confident that the goal wouldn’t count and the Lightning would be on a power play.
“I think it was different for the crowd than it was for us,” Cooper said. “We knew the penalty was being called on them. I think McAvoy was saying something to the ref. I was just shocked he didn’t blow the whistle. Then, by the time they got to the blue line, he must’ve blown it five times. We clearly heard on the ice on our bench. I thought they just shot it in the net rudely, but clearly, nobody heard the whistle. But it had gone.”
The overtime confusion capped a night of frustration for the Bruins regarding the officiating. Boston earned double the minor penalties of Tampa Bay in the game (10 to 5). At one point, Tampa Bay trailed 5-1. It scored three power-play goals — including ones by Darren Raddysh and Nick Paul that were set up by Kucherov on 5-on-3 man-advantages — to make it a one-goal game entering the third period.
Taking away the penalties Swayman and Vasilevskiy received for their memorable goalie fight, the Bruins were whistled for six minor penalties in the second period to just one for the Lightning.
McAvoy said the game turned when “they had a 5-on-3 for like eight minutes” in the second period.
“It just killed our momentum,” he said. “It just killed the game, really. It was a good game, I think, before that. And then, we were in the box for that whole period. We had complete control of the game and then you give a team with that kind of power play a 5-on-3 for … I don’t even know how long it was. You’re just asking for it.”
Boston coach Marco Sturm said he didn’t think the officials had a good game, but that didn’t excuse the undisciplined play from his team.
“We all have good days. We all have bad days. I have to look at some other calls. I know some of them were not in our favor. I can tell you that we do have to do a better job, and they probably have to do a better job, too,” Sturm said of the officials. “I don’t blame them. It always comes back to us, and if you give a guy like Kucherov 10 minutes on the power play, then we did something wrong. So, that’s on us.”
