NHL defends ref, calls John Tortorella's post-game rant 'unprofessional'
Blue Jackets' apparent winning goal waved off as time expired after officials refused to add time
An angry post-game 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.
During a brief, expletive-filled post-match press conference, Tortorella tore into NHL referees and officials after his team fell 3-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks in a shootout.
Tortorella's grievance began shortly after the Blackhawks were called for too many men on the ice in overtime. He 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.
WATCH | Werenski's goal is waved off as time expires:
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 have lost Korpisalo for four to six weeks after he had surgery Monday to repair a torn meniscus in his knee.
WATCH | Tortorella's expletive-laden post-match press conference:
"So the whistle blows, the whistle is blown at 19.2 on the clock. For some reason, the clock is run down a second and a tenth to 18.1. For whatever reason, I have no goddamn idea," Tortorella fumed during the post-match press conference.
"So instead of resetting the clock, we have [the referees] tell our captain, 'we're not going to do it.' Toronto doesn't step in. The refs don't do their freakin' job and now we lose the game, and we lose our goalie."
Following his minute long rant, Tortorella left the press conference without taking any questions.
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 Jacket's 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.
WATCH | Korpisalo injured during the shootout:
With files from CBC Sports and Field Level Media