Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness was fined $25,000 for his actions following a game against the St. Louis Blues.
Bowness remained on the bench after the 2-1 loss, yelling at the officials and smashing a hockey stick against the boards twice before heading off.
The Stars, leading 1-0 in the final minute of the game, found themselves on the wrong end of two penalty calls — both of which resulted in power play goals by the Blues.
Dallas defenseman Jani Hakanpaa was called for hooking with 1:52 remaining. With the Blues pressing, referee Corey Syvret signaled a delayed penalty on Miro Heiskanen for slashing.
“I think that was a really bad call by them,” Heiskanen said. “I got tripped in the corner and they called me [for] a slash. Yeah, it might be a slash but I think I was pretty clearly tripped in the corner. I don’t know, it’s frustrating. That sucks.”
Bowness was frustrated with the whistles, especially since he felt the officials missed a penalty on St. Louis on the play. Blues forward Brayden Schenn tripped up Heiskanen just before the tying goal. There was no call on the initial play, but Heiskanen was whistled for a retaliatory slash.
“If you’re watching the game, you saw what happened,” Bowness said. “They clearly pulled Miro down. Clearly grabbed his stick and pulled him down. That’s my opinion. They got lucky.”
Ryan O’Reilly took advantage, scoring for St. Louis to tie the game with under 60 seconds to go. The goal wiped out Hakanpaa’s penalty but sent Heiskanen to the box.
Just eighteen seconds later Blues forward Jordan Kyrou found the back of the net — on a shot that deflected off the leg of the previously-penalized Hakanpaa — to give St. Louis their first lead of the night with just 29 seconds remaining.
Referees for the game were Frederick L’Ecuyer (#17) and Corey Syvret (#23). Linesmen were Tyson Baker (#88) and Brad Kovachik (#71).
