Was Conor Garland Cheating or Brilliant Against Connor McDavid?

The final moments of the Edmonton Oilers’ highly-contested and heated game against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday have sparked debate. With both Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers likely facing suspensions, some of the ire from those standing up for what McDavid did has turned to Conor Garland’s interference on the Oilers’ captain. Was it a calculated, genius move to neutralize the NHL’s best player or a blatant cheating?

As the seconds wound down and the Oilers tried to tie the game with their best players on the ice, Garland engaged McDavid in what appeared to be a wrestling match, effectively taking him out of Edmonton’s 6-on-5 push for the equalizer. Garland wasn’t penalized, leaving Oilers fans and analysts fuming. At the same time, an argument can be made that there wasn’t a good time to call a penalty, given the Oilers had possession and were trying to tie the game with seconds remaining.

Canucks beat reporter Jeff Paterson tweeted, “With 10 seconds left, Garland made a calculated risk to neutralize the best player on the other team. Should have been a penalty, but it wasn’t. Worked out this time. Maybe not the next.” He’s been given some pushback, mostly from people arguing the officials never had control of the game and should have blown the play down long before things got out of hand.

Who Was Right: McDavid or Garland? Did the Ref Mess Up?

No one is justifying the crosscheck to the head of another player. McDavid is going to face the consequences of that decision. The debate centers around how the referees’ handling of things leading up to the point McDavid felt so annoyed he lost his temper.

Garland’s move was a clear case of interference, with Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal pointing out that he pinned McDavid’s arm for over 15 seconds. “Garland tackles him with 7 seconds remaining, but the Oilers had the puck.”

“When would the power play have started? With 4 seconds to go?” Paterson argued back, highlighting the impracticality of making a call at that time. The argument was that the refs didn’t want to stop the Oilers from potentially cashing in on their scoring chance. Had the refs blown it down, the Oilers might have been livid over a stoppage in play when a goal could have been scored.

Was This a Genius Play by Garland?

Garland’s actions were savvy, albeit risky. He was willing to take a penalty in that situation but was never called for one. As such, why not hold down the NHL’s best player in the hopes that taking him out of the play meant the Oilers not scoring?