DENVER — Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was so irate that not even a dramatic, come-from-behind overtime win could calm him down.
His frustration: The lack of a whistle by officials when goaltender Scott Wedgewood was down in the net and hurt after a Buffalo player was pushed into him in the third period. Bednar felt the play should’ve been stopped out of player safety. Instead, the Sabres scored.
“If he’s hurt and he’s not getting up, and they can evaluate that, and they’re standing right there looking at it, the whistle should go,” Bednar said after the Avalanche rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the Sabres 6-5 in overtime. “It’s just that simple.
“For them to just let it go and then allow the goal is insanity to me.”
On the play in question, Sabres forward Zach Benson was bumped by center Parker Kelly and fell into Wedgewood’s right leg. Benson got back up, gained possession of the puck and later scored as Wedgewood remained down.
“The referee said (the whistle) wasn’t blown because we put their guy into Scott,” Bednar said. “I said, ‘I don’t give a (expletive). He’s hurt.’ They’re standing there. He’s sitting there. He’s hurt. Blow the whistle. If the puck is in the net-front still and they were hacking away at it and it goes in, I’d say fine. But as soon as the puck squirts to the corner, they’ve got to blow it dead. They do it all the time for regular players, because of player safety.
“The rule would state that we have to touch it. But they don’t follow that rule. They never follow that rule.”
Bednar challenged the goal for goaltender interference, knowing full well he wasn’t likely to have the call overturned.
“It gives them another chance to do the right thing,” Bednar said. “The goal shouldn’t have counted, and so, yeah, I was mad. So we just did it.”
Wedgewood was helped to the bench and replaced in net by Mackenzie Blackwood. Bednar said Wedgewood will be evaluated further but, “he’s gonna miss some time,” the coach added.
The play motivated the Avalanche as Jonathan Drouin scored late in regulation to tie the game. Devon Toews won it 48 seconds into overtime with a breakaway goal.
“That fired us up,” Toews said. “We hope Wedgie’s all right, and we’ll move on from it.”
Bednar plans to reach out to the NHL — or the league to him.
“After this presser, I’m sure I’ll get a call from the league,” Bednar said. “I don’t care. When the goalie’s hurt, you blow the whistle.”
Read the full article here
