By Ingrid Rolland and Michael Lopez
At the 10-minute mark of the first period during Game 2 of Tampa Bay’s 2nd-round series with Boston, Torey Krug was sent to the box for two minutes after committing this slashing violation against Brayden Point.
The Lightning cashed in on the ensuing power play, with Point scoring the game’s opening goal.
Fast forward to later in this same game, with Tampa Bay clinging to a 3-2 advantage and less than four minutes remaining in regulation. Brad Marchand skated past Anton Stralman for a scoring chance, and the Lightning defender reached around to commit what looked to be a similar violation to the one deemed a penalty on Krug above.
No penalty on Stralman was called, however, and Tampa Bay held on for a 4-2 win. It was the first of the team’s four consecutive triumphs over the Bruins that earned the Lightning a spot in the Eastern Conference Final.
“We hate to harp on the ref’s, but tonight they deserved to get harped on,” opined NBC’s Jeremy Roenick after the game. “How can you call [Krug’s] penalty early in the game, in such a big playoff game?”
Hockey Graphs 