‘We want penalties called:’ Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch talks Game 2 refereeing

The Edmonton Oilers won Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks in overtime, but despite the dramatic finish, much of the discussion about the game a day later has centred around the performance of the on-ice officials.

Oilers and Canucks fans alike had reasons to complain about some of the calls and non-calls on Friday night, given the egregious examples of missed infractions on both sides. Most notably, Oilers captain Connor McDavid got away with a high stick on Quinn Hughes that should’ve been a four-minute penalty, while Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers probably should’ve been assessed a boarding penalty for his heavy hit on Mattias Janmark in the first period.

Speaking retrospectively on Saturday morning about his team’s come-from-behind victory, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch expressed his desire for both teams to be penalized more.

“Well, as coaches and fans and management, we’re always biased,” Knoblauch said. “We have always have a bias that it wasn’t fair for us. No matter if you’re on the winning side or the losing side, after every game, you can ask a fan or a coach, [they] would say, ‘The refs treated us unfairly.’ And last night, there were some missed calls that benefited us, and there were missed calls that benefited Vancouver.

“I know, as a whole, yeah, there were missed calls, but I know the Edmonton Oilers would like all the missed calls to be called. It’s our advantage. We want penalties called,” Knoblauch added. “Last night, yeah, there were calls both ways that were missed, and that’s every game. Refs aren’t perfect, coaches aren’t perfect, as much as we’d like to tell you we are. We make mistakes, the players make mistakes, and we’re just trying to play the game the best we can.”

OilersNation‘s Zach Laing compiled the videos of some of the game’s missed calls on his own Twitter account throughout Friday’s game.