Warning: This article includes a video that features a curse word.
Thanks to clutch performances by some Hershey Bears’ 2023 Calder Cup championship players, the Washington Capitals defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Monday. But there were some challenges during the game.
The Capitals, who are currently on a PDO bender (meaning they’ve been lucky as they sport the fourth-highest PDO in the NHL since February 10), were disadvantaged twice by officials during the game. And the plays were bizarre.
The most obvious example came on Shane Pinto’s first period goal. The Senators were beneficiaries of an attempted clear by Trevor van Riemsdyk that struck the skates of referee Jon Mclsaac (no. 2) and bounced directly to Vladimir Tarasenko in the slot. Eventually, the puck would make it back to Travis Hamonic at the point, who would fire a shot on net. The puck was deflected high into the air and Pinto eventually batted it past Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Mclsaac, the official whom the puck initially bounced off of, immediately waived off the goal due to his belief that Pinto had struck the puck with a high stick. However, after a video review, he learned he was mistaken. The call on the ice was overturned and Pinto was awarded the goal.
That wasn’t the only weirdness involving an official.
During a Capitals first period power play, Alex Ovechkin was set to capture an attempted Senators clear along the boards, but he missed the puck due to a linesman skating right in front of him. In the video clipped by 1929 Hockey, Ovechkin can be seen raising his arms in frustration as the puck leaves the zone. A Capitals player nearby, perhaps Ovechkin himself (?), then yells quite loudly, “Get out of the f—ing way!”
Not only was the f-bomb heard quite vividly on Sportsnet’s telecast, but fans in the lower level of Capital One Arena caught it, too.
“We heard the player screaming and were laughing,” Capitals season-ticket holder Vic, who was sitting with his friend Andrew, said to RMNB. “It was so funny.”
