Arizona Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue was not happy with the officials after a 3-2 loss to the league-leading Washington Capitals. 

He was particularly upset after what he thought was a slow whistle with the puck covered. 

“It’s another weird call by the refs that, to me, cost us the game,” Domingue said after the game.

“I’m expecting that they treat every guy the same way, and I felt like because I don’t have many games in this league I’m being treated differently [than other goaltenders.]  I think that if Holtby would have covered the puck this way, they would have blew the whistle right away. All game it was the same thing. I didn’t have the whistle.”

“I’m asking [the referees] and they don’t have a reply for me.  I don’t think I look like a guy that was fighting the puck tonight. I think I had control of every puck. To me, it’s just unacceptable that they don’t treat us the same way.”

“To get calls like that, it just frustrates me…     It’s unfortunate.” 

Only one problem:  The puck wasn’t covered.  

As the puck slid down the side of Domingue’s pad, winger Brad Richardson attempted to push the puck back under his goaltender.  Unfortunately for the Coyotes, Richardson’s stick prevented Domingue’s glove from covering the puck.  It ended up popping loose, finding its way to Mike Richards’ stick and then to the back of the net for the eventual game-winner.

“That’s a play where you have to stay with it all the way through and hope the referee blows the whistle,” said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett. “But you have to play it right until you hear the whistle.”

According to Domingue, referee Garrett Rank spoke to him later in the game. 

“He says he didn’t think I knew where the puck was,” said Domingue. “My glove’s over the puck. I’m looking up because I’m expecting a whistle. but I don’t know what he’s thinking.”

“I think maybe the pressure was too much for him.”

Or just maybe this was one puck that Domingue never quite controlled, thanks in part to the stick of his teammate. It was an unfortunate break for the Coyotes, who rallied to cut the deficit to one, but were unable to find the equalizer, ultimately falling 3-2 to the Caps.

Of course, you would’ve thought Domingue would’ve already learned his lesson about playing to the whistle: