“The narrative changed after Game 3,’’ Cassidy said. Throughout the series, Berube has consistently reiterated that the Blues were “the least penalized team’’ heading into the Stanley Cup Final. Following another game in which his team struggled to stay out of the box, Berube voiced that he disagreed with a number of the calls.
“Any time it leads to a scoring chance for the opposition, it has to be called,’’ said Krug, who said Sundqvist should have been whistled for holding late in the second.īoth Cassidy and Krug agreed that the tenor of the series’ officiating has changed since Blues coach Craig Berube criticized the referees after Game 3. Later in the second, Krug was on the receiving end of another potential non-call when he was tangled up with Blues center Oskar Sundqvist, who clearly held Krug in front of Boston’s goal. While fighting for the puck, Sanford checked Krug and appeared to make contact with his head. In the second period, Blues forward Zach Sanford levied another hit that looked high on Bruins defenseman Torey Krug. Johansson stayed down for a few moments before completing his shift. The blow lifted Johansson in the air, as he spun 180 degrees before hitting the ice. In the first period, Blues forward Ivan Barbashev’s shoulder clipped Bruins forward Marcus Johansson in the chin after Johansson fired a shot toward netminder Jordan Binnington. When the public address announcer asked that attendees refrain from doing so, his request was met with resounding boos.īut Bozak’s apparent slew-foot penalty was hardly the only questionable decision of the night. The controversial sequence prompted a number of fans at TD Garden to throw their yellow rally towels, among other things, onto the ice. “I don’t know what else I can say about it.’’ “It’s a missed call on the biggest stage of hockey right now,’’ added Acciari, who was checked out for a concussion. “That call - there’s time - but it really made it difficult for us to get the win tonight,’’ Cassidy said. What should have given the Bruins an opportunity to push for an equalizer with a man-up advantage resulted in a momentum-shifting score that gave the Blues a 2-0 lead and severely hampered Boston’s ability to mount a comeback. No penalty was called, play continued, and Acciari did not stand back up until Perron scored. Moments before Perron snuck the puck past netminder Tuukka Rask, Blues center Tyler Bozak cut Bruins forward Noel Acciari’s legs out from under him, sending Acciari to the deck.