Paul Maurice rips officiating, NHL after 10 penalties doom Panthers to OT loss in Toronto
The Florida Panthers ran out of gas in the third period of their 5-4, overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday and it was understandable why. The Panthers piled up 10 penalties, faced seven power plays and a penalty shot on the second night of a back-to-back set, and the second game of their second road trip in the last week.
It all left Paul Maurice a bit peeved with how the night went.
“I’m proud of our guys here tonight. They flew us out to the West Coast, flew us back, flew us home, flew us up to here to back-to-back us and then they throw those two guys at us,” the coach said, referencing referees Francois St. Laurent and Pierre Lambert. “I’m proud of our group.”
The Panthers, who split four games out west from Jan. 6 through Thursday, will play on the road for the sixth time in seven games Thursday when they wrap up another three-game road trip against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre at 7 p.m.
On paper, an overtime loss in Ontario was more than understandable loss for Florida — the Maple Leafs are a Stanley Cup contender with the second best home record in the NHL — and yet the Panthers led by two goals with just seconds left in the second period before a questionable call let Toronto cut Florida’s lead to 4-3 with just 2.1 seconds left in the frame.
The call was, of course, a major turning point and Maurice was particularly vexed by it. Defenseman Radko Gudas leveled Maple Leafs winger Zachary Aston-Reese as he crashed toward the net and got called for charging after the collision led to the net being dislodged from its moorings. The decision shocked Gudas and sent Maurice into a fury on the bench.
“There’ll always be penalties you take in a game you earn. There’s a whole bunch you’re not going to like at all. I thought we had the inordinate number of those,” Maurice said. “Usually, at least they have enough there to argue, to go over and say, The stick got up. Radko Gudas puts as clean a hit as you can level — stick on stick, body on body. A charge? They’re both going in the same direction. No problem with the guy going to the net at all — that’s hockey.
“I don’t know what the hell those guys were doing tonight, but it wasn’t Florida Panther-friendly.”
Maurice said his relationship “with one of the referees” was the reason he believed Florida got the short end of the calls in Toronto.
He and St. Laurent have a history, dating back to 2016 when Maurice was the coach of the Winnipeg Jets. In 2016, St. Laurent tossed Maurice from a game — the only ejection of the coach’s career — after he tore into the ref following a hit he believed was dirty. In the aftermath, St. Laurent appeared to laugh at Maurice and Maurice, when asked about St. Laurent’s alleged behavior, said it “would then have been consistent with his overall demeanor regarding the whole thing.”
“I just explained to my players it had nothing to do with my players. It had to do with me and the relationship that I have with one of the referees. That’s what that was all about, so just go out there, keep your mouth shut and play the game.”
Despite one frustrating loss in Canada, the Panthers will still have a chance to put together a winning road trip at a hugely important moment when they face the Canadiens (19-23-3) later this week in Montreal.
It will not, however, be the end of Florida’s challenging January. The Panthers will return home to Sunrise for just one game after their trip to Quebec — just like they did after their recent four-game road trip — and then they’ll be right back on the road for two more before finally playing a pair back at FLA Live Arena before the All-Star break.
A five-point trip would be good, but Florida could feel like it should’ve been better.
“Even though this is by far our most difficult stretch, the room feels good,” Maurice said. “It feels good because they see our work level and our compete level is much higher than it was in the month of December. ... We’re working our butts off now. You may not be able to see it because it was a little fatigue there at the end of the game — we didn’t have that push, that sharpness — but they’re working hard enough to win games and when you do that, your goalie starts making more saves, everybody starts feeling better, so the room feels good. Tough loss tonight.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 10:49 PM.
