Blue Jackets' Evason blasts overtime no-call in loss Canadiens: 'That can’t be not a penalty'
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Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason was left fuming after Wednesday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens by what he believes was a missed call just ahead of Nick Suzuki's game-winner.
Suzuki chased and pressured Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson as he carried the puck into the offensive zone. Johnson fell to the ice during the battle and Canadiens seized the puck and drove up the ice for the winning goal.
“You mean at the end when they didn’t call the penalty, when the guy [Suzuki] grabbed [Johnson’s] hip and pulled him back and then that guy went down and scored?” Evason said post-game of the incident, per The Athletic. “It’s ridiculous! You know what? It’s a human game, and I’d hope that we’d have a couple of the refs [available] — or at least one of them — to ask them what they see?
“We have a two-on-one [with Johnson and Sean Monahan]. KJ is fresh. He’s fresh on the ice. He’s got a step on Suzuki. He’s going and he’s fast, and the guy reaches in, grabs him, pulls his hip, spins him, [Johnson] falls down, [the Canadiens] get the puck, they get a three-on-two (the other way) … it’s crazy.”
The Blue Jackets and Canadiens had traded goals throughout the tightly contested game, with Columbus finishing with a 24-23 shot advantage. The loss dropped the Blue Jackets, who had won four of their past five prior, to 9-9-3 on the season as the teams fights to remain within striking distance of the final wild-card spot.
“That can’t be not a penalty,” Evason added. “It makes no sense. I don’t care if it’s the first [period] or overtime, you cannot reach your hand in and grab a guy. Even if they’re even, but [KJ] is ahead of him.
“The only reason they get even is because he gets yanked back. It makes no sense. I just don’t … I don’t understand it. The refs have been fantastic. Fantastic. But that was not a good play.”
The win boosted the Canadiens record to 8-11-3 this season, though the team remains last in the Eastern Conference with 19 points.
“It was a pretty solid game for us. Nothing too special,” Suzuki said of the victory. “Working hard. Keeping things simple and we got a good result out of it, especially on a back-to-back. Everyone was playing like that. I’m proud of the guys for doing that.”