During a brief, expletive-filled post-match press conference, Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella tore into NHL referees and officials after his team fell 3-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks in a shootout.
Tortorella’s grievance began shortly after the Blackhawks were called for too many men on the ice in overtime. The Columbus coach believes that the whistle blew with 19.2 seconds remaining, but that the clock was allowed to run down to 18.1 seconds.
Time was not put back on the clock, and then an apparent game-winning goal by Zach Werenski was waved off because time had expired. Tortorella reasons that if the time had been restored, Werenski’s last-gasp goal would have counted.
Instead, the game went to a shootout.
WATCH | Werenski’s goal is waved off as time expires:
To add injury to insult, Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo was hurt during the shootout after unsuccessfully trying to stop the first shooter, Jonathan Toews.
Korpisalo has been in net for all 17 of his team’s wins this season.
Columbus backup Elvis Merzlikins entered the game cold and allowed the third-round shooter, Patrick Kane, to juke him and score the eventual game-winner.
WATCH | Korpisalo injured during the shootout:
“So the whistle blows, the whistle is blown at 19.2 on the clock. For some reason, the clock is run down a second and a tenth to 18.1. For whatever reason, I have no goddamn idea,” Tortorella fumed during the post-match press conference.
“So instead of resetting the clock, we have [the referees] tell our captain, ‘we’re not going to do it.’ Toronto doesn’t step in. The refs don’t do their freakin’ job and now we lose the game, and we lose our goalie.”
Following his 45 second rant, Tortorella left the press conference without taking any questions.
WATCH | Tortorella’s expletive-laden post-match press conference: