The National Hockey League is having a bit of an officiating crisis in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs and unfortunately for the San Jose Sharks they have been caught up in the middle of it all through no fault of their own.
The Sharks have been the beneficiaries of 2 calls in particular that can only be described as game changing calls. The first of course was in the infamous 5 minute major that was awarded to Las Vegas Golden Knights veteran forward Paul Stastny for a crosscheck he delivered to San Jose Sharks forward Joe Pavelski, a penalty that is almost inarguably responsible for the Sharks being in their current position in these playoffs. The second call of this nature was the call the National Hockey League officials overseeing Game 4 of the Western Conference Final missed in overtime, a hand pass from Sharks forward Timo Meier that would result in the game winning goal.
Whether fair or not this has created a perception that the officials have been biased in favor of the Sharks during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs and when you consider that they are in the middle of a series against the St. Louis Blues, that has not sit well with the Blues fan base. Fortunately the National Hockey League appears to be well aware of the controversy that took place in Game 4 and as a result has completely changed the officiating crew that will oversee Game 5 which is set to take place in just a few hours.
According to Scouting The Refs tonight's officiating crew will feature referees Steve Kozari and Kelly Sutherland, a duo that has already featured in 2 games during the Conference Finals. Kozari and Sutherland appeared together for Game 1 of this series as well as Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final which was contested between the Boston Bruins and the San Jose Sharks. They will be joined by linesmen Pierre Racicot and Trent Knorr, both of whom have worked with the other exclusively in these playoffs, the same linesmen that were paired with Kozari and Sutherland during their 2 previous Conference Final appearances.
Whether or not this proves to be a good change remains to be seen.
