Oilers head coach calls out the officiating following game two loss

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Cooper Godin
May 26, 2024 (10:11)

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Saturday night saw the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars battle in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. With a win, the Oilers would come back to Edmonton with a 2-0 series lead, but the Stars had other plans.

With the game tied at 1-1 through two periods, Stars forward Mason Marchment stepped up, scoring the game winner in the final frame, before Esa Lindell added an empty netter to give Dallas the victory in Game 2. Jake Oettinger was solid between the pipes, making 28 saves on 29 shots in the win.

When meeting with reporters following the Game 2 loss, Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch was not happy with the officiating and the inconsistencies there has been when asked why it's been difficult for his team to draw penalties in the series so far.

"I think...I've heard a lot about the past as being a spectator, not part of the NHL, not as a coach...the NHL sometimes, the standard gets changed a little bit. They would definitely want to make sure it's a penalty, where in the regular season, it may be some things that let go. You know, that's obviously unfortunate for us. We've got a very good powerplay and we've won a lot of games on the powerplay. It's unfortunate for us that it's tougher to draw penalties in the playoffs than it it during the regular season. That being said, it's the standards, the same for both teams, I'm not saying it's unfair for us, but we would like the same standard." Knoblauch said.

While the Oilers haven't been getting the calls in this series, they have got their fair share of powerplay opportunities throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Oilers sit second among teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffsfor powerplay opportunities with 43 (Florida leads with 46). Meanwhile, they've converted on 15 of those powerplays, which leads all teams participating in the playoffs.

So while Knoblauch is frustrated with how things are going in the Western Conference Final, his team has received the benefit of the doubt on more than a few occasions this postseason.

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