Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin was ejected from Monday’s Game 6 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes for mocking the referees after what he felt were questionable calls and a waved-off goal.
A questionable embellishment call and disputed no-goal call both contributed to Ovi losing his cool with the officials.
The disallowed goal, which would have tied the game at three, was waved off due to goaltender interference. After review, the referees confirmed the call, citing the fact that Ovechkin pushed the goaltender and the puck. The Caps captain felt the goal should’ve counted since the puck was loose.
“After reviewing all available replays and consulting with the referee, the Situation Room confirmed that Alex Ovechkin interfered with Petr Mrazek by pushing his pad, which caused the puck to enter the net,” said the official ruling from the NHL’s Situation Room
“We make a push, we scored a goal – I think it was clear,” Ovechkin said, “It’s on referee decisions and they made decisions. What I can say? They make a call. It’s on them, so it’s over.”
What can he say? He had some choice words for the officials after the review.
To make matters worse for the Capitals, Carolina scored just 1:24 later to take a two-goal lead. Their pivotal Game 6 – a possible elimination game for the Canes – had just gone from a possible tied game to a two-goal deficit.
In the closing minutes, with the score 5-2 and the game out of reach, Ovechkin was called for a blatant slash.
As he mockingly applauded the refs for the call, he was also hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct call.
While the referees will be different for Game 7, don’t think that series supervisor Don Koharski won’t spend some time talking with the crew about how Game 6 went — and how it ended.
Game 7 is Wednesday. Referees are still TBD…
