Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog criticized the officiating both during and after the 2-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
Referee TJ Luxmore handed Landeskog a 10-minute misconduct in the final minute of the defeat after the forward told him he had a tough night.
"I guess I hurt his feelings," Landeskog said, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh.
Landeskog also wondered if the officials treat teammate Nazem Kadri differently because of his suspension history.
"In 11 years I've never sat and talked about referees in a press conference ever. I think Wes (McCauley) and TJ Luxmore (did) a great job tonight for 50-some minutes of the game," he said. "They called a high stick on (Kadri) on (Hurricanes forward Nino) Niederreiter, which might have been a high stick but Niederreiter falls (easily). We're arguing it's a flop. They say it's still a high stick. Fair enough.
"With 5:50 left on the clock, Niederreiter is hooking Naz up the boards. The puck turns over, we go the other way, they score. We're arguing that it's a hook. They're saying Naz is flopping, we're arguing it's still a hook, just like they're arguing before. It's unfortunate because that's a playoff game tonight. It's very unfortunate that it comes down to that ... Whether a guy has been suspended numerous times or not, is he going to be carrying around that heavy baggage forever?
"I'm not saying TJ and Wes didn't call it for that reason, but Naz is a guy that's competitive. Whether he sold that call or not, you can look at the video and the stick is in his waist and that's why he loses the puck. I think it's unfortunate. Sometimes it's time for players to step up and speak their truth. I'm the one looking like an idiot for getting thrown out of the game even though I'm just being honest. I guess TJ didn't like that I said he had a tough night."
Kadri appeared to scream "He f-----g dove," after he was whistled for high-sticking.
The Hurricanes are ahead of the second-ranked Avalanche for top spot in the NHL in terms of point percentage. Colorado has two more points in total, but Carolina has two games in hand. The Avalanche have lost four of their last five games, though one was in overtime.
