The Pittsburgh Penguins were left fuming after what they believed was a missed call by the referees allowed the Carolina Hurricanes to score the game-winning goal in overtime Tuesday night.
Hurricanes centre Seth Jarvis checked Penguins winger Bryan Rust from behind into the boards midway through the extra frame and play continued. As the Penguins players appealed for a penalty to no avail and those on their bench raised their arms in disbelief, Hurricanes forwards Andrei Svechnikov and Brett Pesce jumped out to a 2-on-0 rush.
Pesce beat Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 victory as boos rained down at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena.
“When you saw it from the bench up close at the speed it was at, that was the reaction,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told reporters after the game. “That reaction was real because it was a dangerous hit, so I disagreed with the call.”
Penguins defenceman Jeff Petry, who was tied up in a scrum with Jarvis, thought as soon as he jumped in the pile that a penalty would have been called.
“To me, it looked like it was [a penalty],” Petry said. “I don’t know. Obviously, they saw it differently. It’s a tough one to swallow.”
Although Pittsburgh had tied it with 58 seconds remaining in regulation to force OT and at least earn a point, Jarry called it a “tough sequence” to end the game.
“It’s tough to say what they see and what we see,” Jarry said. “It might be two totally different things. Unfortunately, the puck squirts out and they were able to get a 2-on-0 to end it. It’s disappointing.”