Following some lopsided performances through the first three games of the Stanley Cup Finals, Game 4 featured as a thriller as Nazem Kadri’s goal in overtime sealed the deal as Colorado went up 3-1 in the series.
“This one is going to sting much more than others,” Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s going to be hard for me to speak. I’m going to have to speak. I’ll speak with you tomorrow. My heart breaks for the players.”
Although there was some speculation after the match if Colorado had six skaters on ice or not before the game-winning goal, the fact of the matter was that Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy let a goal in for a frustrating 3-2 loss at home.
“A too many men on the ice penalty is a judgment call that can be made by any of the four on-ice officials,” NHL Hockey Operations said in a formal statement after the game.
“Following the game, Hockey Operations met with the four officials as is their normal protocol. In discussing the winning goal, each of the four officials advised that they did not see a too many men on the ice situation on the play.”
Kadri, coincidentally, didn’t understand where all the commotion was stemming from.
“I’m not quite sure what he really was, what he was thinking of why it shouldn’t have counted. That kind of confuses me a little bit,” Kadri said. “The puck hit the back of the net, end of story, so not sure why he would say that.”
In league history, teams up 3 games to 1 in a best-of-seven series go on to win over 90 percent of the time. In the Stanley Cup Finals, that percentage is closer to 07.
“You know, I’ve been part of some heartbreaking losses and defeats to the teams that took us out, and been with a group that just fights, fights and fights,” Copper added. “And they fought their way to a third Stanley Cup Final in a row. And in a cap era when, when it’s so damn hard and the rules are put against you because the league wants parity. And I love that about the league. And that’s what makes it tougher. And just watch this team, what they’ve gone through and the battling that’s gone on. And we’re all in this together. Players, coaches, refs, everybody.”
Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals is scheduled for Friday, 24 June in Denver, Colorado.
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