The Boston Bruins had a tough game this past Monday against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Bruins just barely managed to defeat the Flyers with a late goal in the third period by Brett Connolly.
During the third period, Wayne Simmonds scored a goal to tie the game 2-2 with less than 8 minutes to play. However, coach Claude Julien of the Boston Bruins challenged the call because he believed the Flyers defensemen Michael Del Zotto had been offsides during the play. The officials respected the challenge made by coach Julien and reviewed the play using handheld tablets. After reviewing the play, the officials concluded that the “review was not conclusive in determining whether Philadelphia was offside prior to the goal”. In the end, the goal remained good.
Although this was a well-played game on both ends, coach Julien had a second opinion on the game. The coach was satisfied with the win over the Flyers, but was displeased that the game was that close because of a controversial call. After a tough win most players and coaches show a little excitement, but coach Julien wasn’t feeling the relief just yet: During a postgame interview with NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley, coach Julien made sure to express his thoughts on the bad call made by the officials. During this interview coach Julien says:
“I was really pleased (with the team),” Julien said. “The response that came from the bench right after it was, ‘Come on, guys. Let’s go back after it. Let’s go win this game.’ They didn’t let it deter their mindset, but it was upsetting. To me, I’m still disagreeing with that. It looked like (Del Zotto) had his foot up in the air.”
“But I guess when you have an eight-inch monitor to look at, it’s probably not as clear as a big screen. So, we have to live with some of those things, and to me, it was a frustrating incident. But at the same time, we needed to win this game, so I’m really proud of the way the guys responded.”
The Bruins have a game tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. The Bruins have a better record than the Ducks, so hopefully they can crank out another big win, and start on a two game winning-streak. As for the officials reffing this game, looks as though they had better stay focused and make sound calls, because Coach Julien will make sure he is heard one way or another.