It’s been a month of losses for the Bruins, to say the least. First they lost their captain, Brad Marchand, and then they just lost 3-2 to the Sabres in what could have been a tied game but instead turned into a Sabres power play in overtime with Alex Tuch scoring the winning goal with just 11 seconds on the clock. Sure, the Bruins made some mistakes, but was the game-changing advantage to the Sabres totally fair? Bruins alternate captain David Pastrnak didn’t seem to think so. 

In a recent post-match locker room interview, Pastrnak was asked to share his thoughts on the controversial calls, and he didn’t hold back on voicing his frustration. Highlighting that while Bruins goaltender, Joonas Korpisalo, got slashed during the power play, the referees “decided to look away,” Pastrnak admitted that he “felt that if anybody should have got a power play, it should have been us.” 

It certainly didn’t help that this loss was the third in a Bruins losing streak and really battered overall morale, but Pastrnak didn’t gloss over his team’s own failures, adding, “We made mistakes on the puck, so it’s very frustrating.” However, the palpable feeling of ‘let down’ at the hands of the referees could not go missed.

David Pastrnak’s statement follows a series of criticisms of NHL officials, with players and viewers alike questioning the logic of certain calls, or lack thereof. 

David Pastrnak is not alone in his frustration with NHL refs

In perhaps one of the most famous controversial calls of recent history, Connor McDavid was suspended for 3 games after cross-checking Connor Garland on January 18th. Though the cross-checking itself was undoubtedly at least penalty worthy—he cross-checked him across the neck, ouch—fans wondered why the referees hadn’t stepped in before the situation escalated to the point it did.

Garland had McDavid pinned to the ground in the final seconds of the game, thereby preventing him from making any big moves in overtime, and had the refs stepped in earlier, a totally different and game-changing call would have been made. Following this incident, there was, of course, Mark Spector’s X statement that called out the biased refereeing in a game between the Oilers and the Blues, all in all amounting to an atmosphere of distrust in the officiators.

And more recently there was, of course, Connor Bedard‘s 10-minute penalty for “abuse of officials,” given with no explanation from referee Chris Rooney. An incident that even prompted Hawks beat reporter Mark Lazerus to post, “Tonight’s a good example of why referees should be made available to reporters. We should be able to get Chris Rooney’s explanation for why Bedard got the 10-minute misconduct. But this being the NHL, we never will.”

There were also the two calls against Matt Rempe of the New York Rangers in back-to-back games against the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild, where Rempe was penalized for infractions that he didn’t commit. The Rempe calls had a lot to do with his reputation in the league, but they also highlight how biased the officiating can be.

So, while David Pastrnak’s words might definitely be a result of the pressure he is feeling while having to try and fill the void left by Marchand, they are also yet another example of the mounting concern with the recent calls made by NHL officials. The puck, so to say, is now in Gary Bettman’s court as the Bruins wait for a response that may or may not come. In the meantime, the team will have to gather back up their confidence and puck control so as not to turn this into a four-game losing streak when they play the Golden Knights this Friday.