Referees tend to become more lax during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, calling fewer minor penalties in favor of "letting the boys play." But that sets a dangerous precedent that playing dirty is okay, and every year it leads to an uptick of controversial missed calls.
It's a trend that happens throughout the postseason, like the hit that concussed goalie Anthony Stolarz by Sam Bennett and went unpenalized, but it was never more obvious than Game 1 between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes.
Take a look at repeat offender Aaron Ekblad's actions on Tuesday. Hurricanes rookie Jackson Blake scored the final goal of the game, and after the puck was already in the net, Ekblad reached up to hit Blake in the head with his forearm. Blake was facing the net and Ekblad approached him from behind, hitting him well after the goal had been scored.
There's no argument that Ekblad did not see the puck go in. He initially came towards the net and slashed Blake's stick to prevent the goal. Ekblad had full view of the net, and still chose to extend the arm and catch Blake in the back of the head.
At that point, the Panthers were leading 5-2 with just under four minutes left in the game. It's not like it was a close, intense match where Ekblad is trying to defend a one-goal lead or a tie. Florida had the win in the bag, which should give even less motivation to land a hit like that on a player with his back turned.
Earlier in the playoffs, Ekblad was suspended for two games after elbowing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in the head. When you break down each play, his motion is almost identical: Ekblad brings his arm to his chest with his forearm slightly extended and uses it to make contact with the opponent.
How is it that one of these is suspension-worthy and one is not even a minor penalty? Of course it's worth considering that the elbow on Hagel in the first round happened during play, so it was definitely harder contact at a higher speed. But it's even less justifiable to hit an unsuspecting player like Blake from behind after the play is already dead.
This is behavior we've seen from Ekblad time and time again, and he has no motivation to change because he has faced very little in-game consequence. He was not assessed a penalty on the hit to Hagel despite being suspended after the fact, he faced no repurcussions for the careless hit on Blake, and this sends the message that dirty hits will not leave your team shorthanded.
The missed calls went both ways on Tuesday, as evidenced by Andrei Svechnikov's contact to the head of Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. After Bobrovsky made a save to freeze the puck, Svechnikov skated into the crease and caught him with his upper leg. Bobrovsky immediately went down, but was no worse for wear in the end.
This play was far less egregious than Ekblad's elbow, but regardless, Svechnikov saw that Bobrovsky had frozen the puck and did nothing to avoid hitting him. At worst, it's an intentional hit on a goaltender who is already covering the puck, and at best, it's a careless, irresponsible action that could have been avoided.
Opinions are a little more divided on this one -- some people think it looks like Svechnikov went out of his way to hit Bobrovsky's head, where others think it was incidental contact as he was skating through the crease. No matter how you look at it, any contact to the head is bad contact.
Fortunately, neither Blake nor Bobrovsky were injured at all. But that doesn't mean that NHL officials should allow these things to slide just because the end result "wasn't that bad." That's the type of attitude that creates a culture where it's acceptable to catch your opponents in vulnerable positions. Next time it happens, the player on the receiving end might not be so lucky.
Why do dangerous, late hits after the play become commonplace in the game when it's time for the postseason? Is it because players know they are less likely to be penalized? Is it because tempers are higher and the game is more intense?
The rulebook doesn't change from regular season to the playoffs. The only thing that changes is the way referees are willing to call the game.