The Las Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Washington Capitals in an exciting Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night, but the win did not come without a great deal of controversy.
Less than two minutes after Tom Wilson scored in the third period to give Washington a 4-3 lead, Golden Knights fourth-liner Ryan Reaves stole the momentum back for Vegas by tying things up. Simply put, the goal Reaves scored should not have counted.
Ryan Reaves for Conn Smythe pic.twitter.com/OvuUdBh2z0
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 29, 2018
That was a blatant cross-check from Reaves on John Carlson, but the officials did not call it. After the game, NBC Sports analyst Mike Milbury went off about the “unforgivable” missed call.
“It is absolutely ludicrous,” Milbury said, as transcribed by Scott Allen of the Washington Post. “This is like a receiver in football, pushing down his defensive back in the end zone and catching the touchdown pass by himself. It’s just unforgivable. You’ve got two officials, one you can see right there — make the call. You have to make the call. It’s the turning point in the game. This is just not right at all. If you’re a Washington fan or John Carlson and you think you got bagged, you did. You got sandbagged right here. He’s got every right to be this angry at officials who missed it.”
Vegas took a 5-4 lead later in the period and went on to seal the victory with an empty-netter. Frank Provenzano, a former front office executive for the Capitals and Dallas Stars, called for the officiating crew to be booted from the series.
Fantastic opening game for the #nhl #StanelyCupFinals. Players were ready to put on a show. The officials were not. That group needs to be replaced. Simply can’t miss clear Reaves x-check in the numbers that leads directly to goal. Good thing that was game 1 & not 7
— Frank Provenzano (@FrankProSports) May 29, 2018
There were some other controversial moments like when a Golden Knights player was blindsided with a cheap hit, but the no-call on Reaves directly impacted the outcome of the game. The Capitals have every right to be furious about it.
