The Minnesota Wild have a couple of cases to present to the NHL after Joel Eriksson Ek was roughed up three times in a matter of minutes in Thursday night's season opener against the New York Rangers.
With the Wild trailing 3-0 in the second period, the officials missed what appeared to be a boarding penalty on New York's Jacob Trouba. That drew a "Refs you suck!" chant from the sold out Xcel Energy Center crowd and the Wild scored a goal a short time later to cut the lead to 3-1.
Then, still in the second period and with the Wild on the power play after an Adam Fox tripping penalty, Chris Krieder cross-checked Eriksson Ek in the side of his head. That drew a two-minute high stick penalty and gave the Wild 1 minute, 24 seconds of a two-man advantage.
But with the Wild power play coming to an end, Eriksson Ek and Ryan Lindgren were called for roughing penalties even though Eriksson Ek did nothing. The replay shows Lindgren cross-check Eriksson Ek in the back twice, then continue to pummel him as Eriksson Ek looked around for help from the officials.
Time will tell if the Wild ask the league for explanations, but Joel Eriksson Ek certainly appears to have a case for one no-call and another bad call.
Note: The Wild were trailing 5-2 in the third period at the time this story was published.
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