Winning or losing is part of the game. At least you’d know you gave your all. But when the defeat results because of an external factor, it can be a much harder thing to deal with. For the Columbus Blue Jackets, it was the exact kind of frustration on Sunday. The Dallas Stars hosted the Blue Jackets at the American Airlines Center tonight. The visitors lost 5-3, but the fans couldn’t stop fuming at the officials’ controversial calls late in the third period.

The Blue Jackets stepped into Dallas feeling confident. Running on a three-match winning streak, Columbus looked to bag another victory on the road. But it wasn’t to be, and the hosts instead extended their own winning streak by five games. But the traveling fans were more concerned by the match officials’ actions.

The Columbus Blue Jackets’ misfortune prompts reactions on social media

Eyebrows were raised when Thomas Harley‘s wrist shot took a deflection off Evgenii Dadonov‘s raised stick to get the Stars their first goal of the third period. However, after a replay, the goal was allowed. And that didn’t sit well with many hockey connoisseurs. The clamor spilled onto social media and popular vision correction brand LASIK also had something to say about it, with its own twist on the drama. In a post on X from February 2, LASIK joked, “We are ALSO offering free LASIK to NHL refs. Literally,” and while the update didn’t take any names, it wasn’t hard to decipher where it was targeted.

As per the official rule of the NHL, the puck needs to make contact with the stick at a point that’s below the crossbar, even if a portion of the stick is above the same. But video evidence clearly showed that the puck caught Dadonov’s stick when it was raised above the goal. Naturally, the call confused many fans and Blue Jackets loyalists claimed foul by the match officials.

“It looked like a high stick from our end. From (the Stars’) reaction, it even looked like they thought it was a high stick. But we’re not the ones making the call,” said Ivan Provorov of the Blue Jackets. But it was what it was, and the Stars were the victorious side at the end of the night. And yet, the officials’ call to allow the goal made quite a ripple among the community.

To and fro, the arguments go

“We got a really, really terrible break…It’s not a bad break, it’s a bad call,” Evason said. “It’s a high stick. I just don’t understand it. At least from our angle, it’s 100 percent a high stick,” said Columbus head coach Dean Evason. His words were backed up by more fans who took to social media to note their displeasure. “Absolutely getting screwed in Dallas tonight. Unreal,” one Blue Jackets fan-run page fumed on X, evidently annoyed at Dallas celebrating Dadonov’s goal. For another fan, it was also how the Stars were apparently given a boost every time Columbus scored. “After every #CBJ goal, Dallas has benefited from a missed called or a bogus penalty,” slammed the fan.

It also seemed like the uproar reached the Dallas dressing room as well, and the staff had to come up with diplomatic statements to keep things calm. The visitors’ head coach Pete DeBoer said, “First off, I thought [Columbus] played a really solid game. You can tell why they have the record they have. They make you earn your offense. They’re direct, they’re fast, they have some good young players there,” while his Blue Jackets counterpart called the whole match “really frustrating.” But who is in the right? What do you think about the ref’s call? Tell us in a comment!