Referees from Game 7 of Sharks-Golden Knights series have been reprimanded

It seems like some actions have been taken following the controversy that took place during the third period of the do or die Game 7 between the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights. 

Referees Eric Furlatt and Dan O'Halloran have officially been left out by the National Hockey League for the rest of the playoff games.

On Tuesday night, the Sharks were behind 3-0 in the third period as some fans started to leave the tank. However, one major turning point in the game took place and now it’s under scrutiny. 

Right after the face-off against Cody Eakin, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski was pushed by the Vegas forward. Losing his balance, Pavelski ended up in the way of Paul Stastny, who crushed him brutally on the ice in a pinball effect. Brent Burns took a look at his teammate and waived at the bench to get the doctor and trainers to come over fast. The trainer quickly placed a towel on Pavelski’s face as he was bleeding heavily. He fell hard on his shoulder and head, right on the ice. 

Eakin was given a major cross-checking penalty and was ejected from the game on a misconduct. 

Many insiders, former and current NHL players commented on the bad call, saying the penalty shouldn’t have been a major one. Clearly, the officials made the call based on emotions and the scary injury that came with it. 

“We are going to look at this game years from now and it’s going to lead to this penalty,” commented Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos after the game. 

On Thursday, the site Scouting the Refs revealed the names of the officials that will be used in the upcoming contests of the following rounds. The site allows fans to see which of the 24 of the 40 officials who have been selected to work at the start of the playoffs had their term extended in anticipation of the second round. Among these are Francis Charron, Marc Joannette and François St-Laurent. As for the linesmen, we see that the NHL will trust Pierre Racicot, Jonny Murray and Michel Cormier. 

After the controversial penalty in the Sharks-Knights Game 7, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman spoke about the penalty and later tweeted on how the NHL will need to consider reviewing major penalties after such an incident that led to a controversial comeback. 

I guess for now, that's a start from the NHL. But we bet it won't be enough for Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault, who was quite vocal about the bad call after his team was eliminated from the playoffs...