COLUMBUS, Ohio — An angry postgame rant by Columbus Blue Jackets Coach John Tortorella over clock management late in Sunday’s night’s overtime loss was “unprofessional along with unacceptable,” an NHL official said Monday.
Colin Campbell, the NHL’s director of hockey operations, also defended a referee’s decision not to restore more than 1 second to the clock that ticked off after a whistle was blown to stop play with 18.1 seconds remaining in the overtime period against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Tortorella argued the whistle was blown at 19.2 and the decision not to reset the clock cost his team the game and led to an injury to goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who left the ice after trying to block a shot in the first-round of the subsequent shootout.
An apparent goal by the Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski at the horn ending the overtime period seemed to seal a victory over the Blackhawks. Instead, it was waved off after a video replay showed the puck crossed the goal line after time expired. Tortorella reasoned that the goal would have counted if the extra 1.1 second had been restored.
Instead, the Blue Jackets lost the shootout and lost Korpisalo for “weeks” with a knee injury, Tortorella said Monday.
“Toronto doesn’t step in, refs don’t do their freaking job and now we lose a game, and we lose our goalie,” Tortorella said in his postgame news conference Sunday, which lasted 45 seconds before he left without taking questions. “So the chain of events, if it was done right, we don’t lose our goalie, we win the hockey game.”
Tortorella said Monday that he regretted airing his complaints publicly instead of handling it behind the scenes.
Campbell said in a statement that it was a judgment call by the referee, who checked with the clock operator before denying the Blue Jackets’ request to restore the time. He said NHL operations didn’t see the need to get involved.
Regarding Tortorella’s expletive-laced rant, Campbell said “we’re dealing with it.”
The injury to Korpisalo is devastating to the Blue Jackets, whose remaining goalies have little NHL experience. Korpisalo’s backup, Elvis Merzlikins, could get the start on Tuesday night against Florida and former Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
ALL-STAR GAME: The host St. Louis Blues will have three players at NHL All-Star Weekend.
Captain Alex Pietrangelo, goaltender Jordan Binnington and playoff MVP Ryan O’Reilly will represent the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues for All-Star festivities Jan. 24-25. Forward David Perron was not chosen as an All-Star despite being in the middle of a career season.
St. Louis native Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames was also chosen as an All-Star. The league’s hockey operations department filled out the All-Star rosters beyond the captains voted in by fans.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin was voted in by fans but opted to skip All-Star to rest his body for the stretch drive and playoffs. Capitals teammates John Carlson and Braden Holtby will go instead.
Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane is set to make his ninth All-Star appearance, which is the most among active players.
Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask was also chosen for the game. Teammate David Pastrnak was named a captain for the Atlantic Division earlier this month. Patrice Bergeron is one of 31 players on the Last-Men In ballot. The top vote-getter in each division on that ballot will added to the all-star roster.
Six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders were picked from each of the four divisons: the Metropolitan, Atlantic, Central and Pacific. All 31 NHL teams needed to be represented on the initial rosters.
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