Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin still has a sour taste in his mouth two days after an 8-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ovechkin sounded off on the officiating of Monday’s game, focussing on missed calls that he feels changed the result of the game.
“If it’s there, it’s there. The last game, how many calls (were) they missing? Obviously, before (the) four-on-four, it was a straight head shot on Osh (T.J. Oshie) and no call,” Ovechkin told the Washington Post on Wednesday.
The hit on Oshie that Ovechkin was eluding to came early in the second period, when Partic Hornqvist appeared to connect with Oshie’s head. There was no call on the play, and both Hornqvist and Capitals forward Daniel Winnik were called for roughing in the scrum that followed. While the Capitals were up 3-0 at the time, the Penguins scored two goals on the ensuing four-on-four, substantially swinging the momentum in their direction.
The missed calls didn’t just stop there, according to Ovechkin.
“(Then) it was six men on the ice, and I asked him (the referee) why he didn’t see that and why he didn’t call that. He said, ‘Well, I was watching six men on the ice and another guy see the same.’ I said, ‘Why didn’t you call that?’ (He said) ‘well, we figured out we tried to do something else.’ Okay, so just call it. You killed the game and killed our momentum,” the Russian said.
“Obviously, it was a pretty bad situation out there and (in) overtime, the same. There was a clear trip and no call. Everybody makes mistakes.”
That trip came just before the overtime-winning goal by Conor Sheary, when Ovechkin was tripped by Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
While the 31-year-old remains upset with Monday’s officiating, he knows that in order for things to change and for these calls to be made, he and head coach Barry Trotz must do a better job of communicating with the officials.
“It’s emotion moments. I think everybody get involved, everybody have emotions. If it’s 100 percent call and nobody make a whistle and don’t make a call, of course everyone going to be mad and sad about it,” Ovechkin said.
“But I think the captains and the coaches, we can talk to the referees, so that’s what we should try to do.”
