It’s difficult to be a referee in professional sports. The games move so fast that it’s nearly impossible to call everything correctly, and with video replays being more available and diverse than ever before, blown calls are put under the microscope even further.
Saying that, there are some calls that are just plain baffling. The referee must have seen SOMETHING to make the call, but you can’t really fathom what it would have been. On Tuesday evening, we had one of those moments.
The Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators were locked in a back-and-forth affair that was proving to be pretty entertaining for those in attendance. Three 3rd period goals left the score deadlocked, and the two sides moved on to a 3-on-3 overtime.
It didn’t stay 3-on-3 for long, however. Part way through the extra time, Colorado was called for too many men on the ice. The only issue was, it appeared to be somewhat of a phantom call.
Dean Morton was the ref to make the call, and it’s unclear what exactly he saw. A linesman has hopped up onto the Avs bench to avoid touching the puck, so maybe he mistakenly saw him return to the ice? Meanwhile, the Preds actually did have four skaters on the ice, so maybe this was just a total mix up.
Matt Duchene would end up scoring his 2nd PPG of the game, awarding the Preds the victory.
