NHL Officials Give Game Away to Sharks, Who Beat Devils 3-2 in Regulation

After illegally wiping a minor power play off the board in the second period, an official was twice in the way of Jonas Siegenthaler as he tried to clear the puck in the third, leading to a Sharks game-winning goal.

First Period

After an early chance for the New Jersey Devils was denied by Yaroslav Askarov, off the stick of Stefan Noesen, Jonas Siegenthaler took a high sticking penalty against Tyler Toffoli, sending the San Jose Sharks to the power play. On the penalty kill, Jack Hughes shot on a two-on-one chance and was denied by Askarov, and Mercer was unable to nab the rebound. On the other end, Brett Pesce clogged up the middle to avert the counterattack. Then, late in the kill, Erik Haula was down after a neutral zone collision, forcing the Devils to defend another odd-man rush, but Jacob Markstrom made the stop as Johnny Kovacevic took the pass away.

At even strength, Nate Bastian set up a point shot, backhanded the rebound on goal, took his own rebound, and spun a backhand pass through the slot to Tomas Tatar, who was stopped by Askarov’s glove. Off the next faceoff, Tyler Toffoli got loose for a two-on-one after Nico Hischier was stripped at the blueline. Luke Hughes raced up to make the pass play more difficult, and Toffoli ripped a shot off the crossbar. Jacob Markstrom would make two stops on Toffoli off the next draw, robbing Toffoli’s own rebound shot with a sprawling glove save.

Jacob Markstrom continued to be strong throughout the period, as the Devils gave up quite a few shots, though from pretty varying areas of their defensive zone. The Devils could have gone to the power play when Luke Hughes was tripped in the defensive zone trying to take the puck from the faceoff circle, but the Devils did not get a call. They would call hooking a few minutes later on Brenden Dillon for reaching at Macklin Celebrini, though, as Jack Hughes was lifting Celebrini’s stick. With 4:31 left in the period, the Devils went back to the penalty kill.

Nico Hischier deflected a pass through the high slot early in the kill, allowing a clearance to the neutral zone and an offsides. The Devils were able to push San Jose to center ice a couple time sin that first minute, also largely keeping the puck in the corner when defending. Kovacevic was checked from behind into the boards during one such corner battle, but play went on, and the Devils forced an offensive zone faceoff with a clearance that was high-sticked by Mikael Granlund. Jack Hughes broke free for a shorthanded rush after losing the draw and being forced back, but Askarov made the pad save after Hughes was slowed down in the neutral zone. Then, Markstrom finally let one through when Nikolai Kovalenko got behind Luke Hughes and beat Markstrom under the blocker. 1-0, Sharks.

Second Period

Macklin Celebrini whacked Brendon Dillon in the mouth while skating by for the puck in the neutral zone, but it turned out to be only a two-minute call, despite how hard the whack was, as Dillon did not bleed. On the power play, the Devils passed the puck too much after an early Hamilton shot was blocked, and Hughes got the first shot on goal 44 seconds on on a shot to Askarov’s glove. The Devils were much more aggressive off the following draws. Stefan Noesen had some netside chances, and he backhanded the puck through his legs back out to Hughes to prevent a clearance. Hischier was also denied at the side of the net, and the Noesen raced to the blueline to prevent a clearance to the neutral zone. Hamilton played it from there to Bratt, and Nico Hischier was set up by Hughes at the side of the net for a game-tying goal! Hischier’s 19th of the season, on his 26th birthday, gave the Devils life.

Jonas Siegenthaler was called for “holding” when he reached out to push Mikael Granlund, leading to Granlund losing the puck on the rush. San Jose had two chances early, with one shot by Toffoli going wide and another from Will Smith hitting the crossbar. Back at even strength, Dougie Hamilton whacked a flip from Toffoli out of the air and created a rush the other way, Jack Hughes rang a shot off the iron. Of course, Nico Hischier was called for hooking Barclay Goodrow in the neutral zone immediately afterwards. This one was a real, though. The Sharks had a rougher time on this power play, eventually taking a too many men penalty for skating with six players while in full possession of the puck. Nobody was even going to the bench when the penalty was called.

The four-on-four lasted for 37 seconds, and the Devils went to the power play afterwards with Hischier coming out of the box. The Devils were unable to get a shot on goal, and Jesper Bratt had to race back at the end of the advantage to avert a loose puck rush when Dougie Hamilton pinched hard from the blueline. Back at even strength, Jan Rutta broke his stick after a blocking a shot from Paul Cotter. The Devils tried to take advantage, but Askarov made a stop on a one-timer from Jonas Siegenthaler, who went down to the side of the slot.

After the Sharks had a partial three-on-one with Siegenthaler back, Luke Kunin was denied by Markstrom. The Devils pushed back, getting a penalty call. Despite having the puck with the empty net, with play blown dead, the referees picked up their own penalty call after Macklin Celebrini was going to be called for tripping Jack Hughes. Per NHL rules, only major penalties can be reviewed and called back. Sheldon Keefe was yelling for the remainder of the period.

Third Period

In typical recent fashion, the Devils gave up a quick goal, not even two minutes into the third, when the third line did not get back to cover Luke Hughes’s rush, and Macklin Celebrini took a pass on a two-on-one and ripped a shot past Jacob Markstrom. 2-1, Sharks. Dawson Mercer was the only forward to backcheck, but he was too late to make a difference.

Paul Cotter, though, was feeling it offensively, and he has been due for a goal. He sped into the offensive zone, pulling the puck on a string around Marc-Edouard Vlasic and flipping it over Askarov’s glove! The Devils tied the game less than three and a half minutes after falling behind.

Jesper Bratt got in behind the San Jose defense, but he deked himself out of a potential goal, as the puck was too hot to settle. The teams mostly settled down their risk-taking and began to play more in the neutral zone, with dumps and chases providing the majority of offensive zone entries. Ondrej Palat had the golden chance to take the lead when a rebound came out to him with Askarov out of position on the far side of the crease, but he shot right into Askarov.

Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images

In the last 30 seconds, Jonas Siegenthaler was interfered with by a referee, leading to a game-winning San Jose Sharks goal. Two clearing attempts hit the official, who split between Siegenthaler and Wennberg as Wennberg flipped it out to the point, leading to Ceci’s point shot goal.

The Need to Sit Back and Be Patient

The New Jersey Devils need to remember how playoff teams would approach them when they were just a young rush offense team a few seasons ago. You would almost never see the Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, or whoever else abandon their defensive structure to trade rush chances with them. Those teams knew that was the only way to lose to the Devils at the time, aside from gifting them power plays or being stonewalled by a goalie having a good night. The Devils kept the Sharks in today’s game by giving them too many rushes.

NHL Officiating is a Problem

The New Jersey Devils and Sheldon Keefe have been struggling to get a fair shake from NHL officials over the past several days, and today had me at a breaking point. In the second period, when Jack Hughes had sent the Devils to the power play for a Macklin Celebrini trip, the officials conversed with linesmen, leading to the penalty being revoked. Per the NHL rulebook, NHL linesmen are to report and conference with officials in limited circumstances. The full rule is below.

32.3 General Duties – The Linespersons are generally responsible for calling violations of off-side (Rule 83) and icing (Rule 81). They may stop play for a variety of other situations as noted in sections 32.4 and 33.5 below.

32.4 Reporting to Referee – The Linesperson shall give to the Referees his interpretation of any incident that may have taken place during the game.

The Linesperson may stop play and report what he witnessed to the Referees when:

(i) There are too many men on the ice — Rule 74

(ii) Articles are thrown on the ice from the players’ bench or penalty bench — Rule 75

(iii) When team personnel interfere with a game official — Rule 39

(iv) When a player who has lost or broken his stick receives one illegally — Rule 10

(v) When any identifiable player on the player’s or penalty bench, by means of his stick or his body, interferes with the movements of the puck or an opponent

As of this point, there is no indication a linesman can conference with referees to wipe a tripping call on the board. But can they conference for minor penalties in general?

The Linesperson must report upon completion of play, any circumstances pertaining to:

(vi) Major penalties — Rule 20

(vii) Match penalties — Rule 21

(viii) Misconduct penalties — Rule 22

(ix) Game Misconduct penalties — Rule 23

(x) Abuse of Officials — Rule 39

(xi) Physical Abuse of Officials — Rule 40

(xii) Unsportsmanlike Conduct — Rule 75

The only other entry for the linesmen conferencing with referees is the only time the referee may call a penalty: when a four-minute minor may be called for high-sticking. As we know, major penalties may be reviewed, but minor penalties, once the arm is raised and the whistle is blown, are to be called.

To make matters worse, their fingers were all over the end of the third period. Stefan Noesen and Jack Hughes were both tripped in the offensive zone in the last 90 seconds, which did not earn a penalty call despite the officials’ earlier muckery. Then, when Jonas Siegenthaler stripped Wennberg of the puck and went to clear it, the official sealed himself onto the glass, blocking two clearing attempts before skating out of the way so Wennberg could have a clean shot at the puck to move it up high. Jacob Markstrom needs to make a save there, but the officials doing everything wrong that they possibly could played a huge factor in this being a regulation loss.

I’m usually someone who watches the game pretty silently at home. It takes a lot to have me off the couch, yelling and curses because I’m unhappy watching the game. Today put me to that point.

Your Thoughts

What did you think of today’s game? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.