from Matt Porter of the Boston Globe,

It’s advisable to steer clear of the yearly playoff officiating discourse whenever possible. The calls typically even out. The NHL’s officiating this postseason has been so inconsistent, so haphazard, that it is an unavoidable topic.

In this third round alone, we had a goal scored with seven Lightning skaters on the ice. We had Islander Scott Mayfield’s pair of cross-checks on Steven Stamkos, which sent him face-first into the dasher, and Nikita Kucherov, which knocked the leading playoff scorer out for Game 6. In Game 3 of the Montreal-Vegas series, referee Chris Lee missed a high stick that left Corey Perry bloody. He was standing a few feet away as Brayden McNabb punched Nick Suzuki in the face.

You may be thinking of several more incidents left unmentioned. Maybe something from the Bruins’ playoff run?

Rage against the referees has been a part of hockey since the puck was a chunk of wood and the sticks were fashioned from saplings. There used to be a few cameras in the building, and now there’s a few hundred, and we can clearly see what the officials a few feet away miss, as the players skate by in a blur. Maybe we should accept that they’re going to miss some bad ones.

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