Update on the officiating crew for Game 4 between Vegas and Montreal.

It feels like officiating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs has reached a new low this year and there has perhaps been no series that epitomizes this more than the ongoing semifinal between the Montreal Canadiens and the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Both the Habs and the Golden Knights, and their fans, have been unhappy with the officiating of Chris Lee and Dan O'Rourke in this series and the calls for them to be replaced reached an all time high after Game 3 of the series.

Unfortunately it sounds like both Chris Lee and Dan O'Rourke will be back in action in Game 4 according to a Sunday morning update from National Hockey League insider Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Lavoie reports that this is due in part to the pandemic, suggesting perhaps that the league is wary of bringing in another officiating crew due to the increased risk that would pose when it comes to the spread of Covid-19.

The calls to have them replaced have come thanks in large part to an incident that occurred in the overtime frame of Game 3, one that should have resulted in an automatic 4 minute power play for the Canadiens. During the overtime frame Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault caught Canadiens veteran forward Corey Perry up high with a particularly nasty high stuck, one that left Perry bleeding all over the ice as he headed back to the locker room for repairs. In spite of what looked like an obvious call to everyone in the building and everyone sitting at home, all 4 officials seemingly missed the call in real time. This was made even more frustrating for fans in Montreal considering a T.V. timeout had to be called in order to scrape Perry's blood off of the playing surface.

To be clear though the Golden Knights have also been unhappy with Lee and O'Rourke and the moment that perhaps best encapsulates their own frustrations with the two officials came in Game 1 of the series. In that game Golden Knights forward Chandler Stephenson was hit up high by Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot, but once again the officials on the ice failed to make the call in real time. That frustration has no doubt since been amplified by the fact that Stephenson has remained sidelined with what is believed to be a concussion.

This is far from an ideal scenario for anyone involved, I suspect that includes the league itself, but it may be a scenario that we are stuck with for the remainder of this series.