What a mad showdown it has been between the Washington Capitals and the Montreal Canadiens! This NHL playoff series has it all. The goals, the hits, both teams standing tall on the ice, defending every inch of their zone. It has been a proper war between these 2 teams, who have left it all on the ice. But the shine of this great series has been taken away by the shoddy refereeing, which has gotten everyone complaining. And with what the fans witnessed in game 4 – well, they have had it. Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis is at a loss for words, but to make up for it, the fans are not. They are fuming. But which talking points are bothering the Montreal faithful?
The game on April 27 ended 5-2, leaving the Canadiens down 3-1 in the series. But what may be keeping St. Louis up at night is not the quality the Capitals have on the ice. It is that maybe his team is not getting the right calls. “I’ll be careful with my words but it’s hard to watch some of these [penalty] calls. To me tonight, like one of the mandates was about embellishing tonight,” the Montreal head coach shared in the post-game presser.
And it’s not just him. He was joined by goaltender Jakub Dobes, who didn’t care much for diplomacy. “I don’t want to be specific about who could be better. I just hope we don’t get these referees in Washington, that’s it. I’m not going to point fingers.” That’s as unsubtle as it gets. Clearly, he is no longer a fan of referees Dan O’Rourke and Frederick L’Ecuyer.
And after what happened in the crucial NHL game, maybe he is justified. The Tom Wilson hit on Alexandre Carrier in the third period was downright hard but ultimately legal. The latter couldn’t finish the game after being bulldozed into the ground, and the puck was nowhere near the scene of the crime. The Capitals scored from the ensuing attack, but Dobes’ focus was on the Carrier incident: “I feel like it should have been a whistle. It was kind of a scary hit, but I guess the rules don’t apply for everyone in this league.”
“I’ll be careful with my words, but it’s hard to watch some of these calls.”
Canadiens Head Coach, Martin St. Louis on tonight’s officiating… pic.twitter.com/2SXwCQTDl9
— BarDown (@BarDown) April 28, 2025
Was Carrier the target of the night? Capitals juggernaut Alex Ovechkin almost sent the defenseman over the barricades into the Canadiens bench before missing his mark. But the forward got his hit alright. In the 2nd period, he connected with Jake Evans’ head while entering the offensive zone. The verdict? 2-minute minor penalty for interference on play.
But the Canadiens goaltender again felt it deserved harsher punishment. “I feel like the game was pretty much over when Ovi (Ovechkin) took a hit on Jake. I think it was at least (worth) a suspension for a game, but I guess not.” In the presser, head coach St. Louis couldn’t find the words to describe what went down in the 4th game.
And it seems the same thing has happened to Dobes. “I don’t have answers for you guys. I have to watch it again, but it’s just unfortunate because you don’t want to see one of our better players skating around the ice concussed. It was just a weird game today, I guess.”
But hey, they probably know what it is but just can’t say it out loud. But the fans don’t have to be silent about it. In fact, they can call it exactly what it is. And they are doing just that.
The entire series has got NHL fans questioning the officiating
The playoffs’ 1st round for the Capitals and the Canadiens started on April 19. And there hasn’t been one game in which there hasn’t been an issue with the officiating. And while Martin St. Louis wanted to remain classy and professional, the fans wanted a stronger response. “Careful with your words? Call it like it is. You are held accountable as a coach, why can’t the refs and the NHL also be held accountable?”
The problem is that this is not the only game. Even the Florida Panthers-Tampa Bay tie has seen controversial decisions being dished out. And it happened in the Oilers – LA Kings series. The verdict from the Oilers fans is that “Refs are idiots.” But will calling them names make the officiating better? Who knows? Although Wilson’s latest hit was clean, it hasn’t prevented him from being public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Habs fans.
“Wilson jumps up off his skates flies in with an elbow, no call. Anderson comes in and puts him in his place, 2 minutes. All night long dumb shit like that.” This tweet from a fan summed up some of what went on, from a Habs perspective. Wilson and Josh Anderson haven’t been able to keep their distance. In fact, wherever there is a brawl, there’s a high chance you will find these two there. And while Josh Anderson has been the one to stand up to Wilson, the Capitals forward has kept his eyes on other Canadiens targets, like Cole Caulfield in Game 2.
Wilson and Anderson even took a $5000 fine each for initiating the huge ruckus that broke out on the ice in Game 3. The fines did little to dampen their rowdy spirits, but the fans have been complaining about the two different kinds of treatment. And why the refereeing is so spotty. One fan’s tweet read, “He’s (Martin St. Louis) not wrong. And I’m not talking about the Wilson hit.” Probably the complaint was about Alex Ovechkin’s intent all night. And how he ended up landing a huge hit on Jake Evans but not getting a major penalty or even game misconduct.
The many gripes with refereeing decisions weren’t just limited to sore Canadiens fans, tired of losing. A Boston Bruins fan also gave a similar take: “I am a Bruins fan and as such ABSOLUTELY DESPISE the Canadiens but completely agree with Marty. Atrocious officiating, looks like NHL wants to have the dirty Russian around a while.”
But another fan had a more nuanced view of the officiating: “He’s not wrong but they sucked for both teams trash officiating for sure but at least they were consistent lmao.” Well, many Montreal fans will probably not agree with that viewpoint. The 4th game officiating has left them wanting. Just like the 3rd game, officiating left many Capitals fans saying the ref was biased against them.
What will we expect from game 5? It’s a do-or-die match for the Canadiens. And any controversial decision that ends up being fatal for their 2025 postseason involvement in the NHL will draw flak from the Canadiens fanbase, en masse.
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