The Minnesota Wild were the victims of a pretty inexcusable call on the part of the National Hockey League’s officials on Sunday night and, if the veins that were practically bursting from the head of Wild head coach Dean Evason were any indication, it seems very unlikely that they are going to be happy with the outcome of Game 4.
The Wild were battling the Dallas Stars in a hotly contested game, one that was separated by only a single goal in the third period, when Wild forward Marcus Foligno was shaken up on a play after an awkward attempt at a hit on Stars forward Mason Marchment. Marchment managed to avoid the majority of the contact, but in doing so his stick came across the face of Foligno and would in fact result in the Wild forward being busted open on the play.
Although it initially appeared as though the Wild might get a power play out of the whole thing, when Foligno got back up to his feet he was shocked to learn that he was in fact the one headed to the penalty box. The officials on the ice had called Foligno for “tripping” on the play, resulting in outrage from both Foligno as well as the rest of the Minnesota Wild.
Making matters even worse, the Stars would score on the ensuing power play with Stars forward Tyler Seguin notching the power play goal. It was at this moment that Evason appeared to be boiling on the bench, with his face muscles seemingly contorting as he did his best to contain his anger at the NHL’s officials.
Adding insult to injury, the Wild managed to come within a goal by scoring with only a minute left on the game clock. That means that this call from the NHL officials, and the ensuing power play goal, proved to be a deciding factor in tonight’s game.
