The NHL is investigating an incident in which one of its referees was caught saying he “wanted” a penalty against the Predators in his victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night in Nashville, Tennessee.
With 15:04 to the end of the second period, Predator striker Viktor Arvidsson was called in for tripping over Red Wings defender Jon Merrill in the offensive zone, although replays showed that Merrill embellished the takedown to tie the decision.
The official referees for the game were veterans Tim Peel and Kelly Sutherland. Peel seemed to draw the feather in Arvidsson from the center of the ice.
With 12:42 left for the second period, the Nashville broadcast captured audio from an officer on the ice saying, “It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a penalty against Nashville earlier.”
The NHL told ESPN that it is “taking a look” at the incident.
Nashville won the game 2-0.
Both teams were whistled for three penalties, while the Predators took a fourth for placing the puck over the glass in the third period.
Asked after the contest about what the officer was heard to say, Nashville coach John Hynes said, “I think the situation is what it is. I think that, from our perspective, it probably doesn’t matter how I feel about it in general. ; but the referees are league officials and, instead of me commenting, I think it’s an issue that the league will have to take care of. “
Hynes said “you always want to have things that are fair to your players and your team”, but that there are no excuses.
“We have to find a way to eliminate the penalty and control what we can control,” he said.