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The Tampa Bay Lightning have fallen behind three games to one in the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals. The loss has left Lightning coach Jon Cooper rather displeased.
Cooper spoke with the media post-game and had a rather shocking reaction to the winning goal. He began his press conference by speaking about his love for the NHL:
“You know, I love this league,” Cooper began. “It's the greatest league in the world. The people that run it are amazing. Everything about it, it's like a dream come true.”
The 54-year-old then spoke about the loss itself, saying:
“This one's going to sting so much more than other just because it was potentially taken… I don't know.
“It's going to be hard for me to speak. I'll speak with you (the media) tomorrow. You're going to see what I mean when you see the winning goal.”
This reaction raised a few eyebrows. Replay showed the puck clearly going into the net. And there was no apparent penalty or offsides on the play. Cooper didn't specify what he meant. His final words before leaving the press conference were:
“My heart breaks for the players. Because we probably still should be playing. I'll be available tomorrow.”
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman tweeted that the Lightning believe the Colorado Avalanche had too many men on the ice at the time of the winning goal.
Indeed, looking at the replay it does appear that the Avalanche had six players on the ice at the time of the winning goal. A video of Avalanche hero Nazem Kadri entering the play early has also stirred up controversy.
This is the most damming footage I’ve seen yet.
As Nazem Kadri (the winning goal scorer) gets on the ice it takes MacKinnon over 5 seconds to get back to the bench and he’s clearly much further than 5 feet away. pic.twitter.com/9ede4C6ZCU
— Kailey Mizelle (@KaileyMizelle) June 23, 2022
The NHL considers a player off the ice when a player is within five feet of his bench when his substitute enters play. MacKinnon being less than five feet away from his bench would have warranted a Too Many Men call.
It goes without saying, but the Stanley Cups Finals just got even more interesting.
