Bruce Cassidy calls officiating 'black eye' for NHL after Game 5 loss

Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was predictably irate following his team’s 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

In case you missed it, David Perron notched a controversial winner seconds after Tyler Bozak blatantly tripped Noel Acciari and got away with it during the third period.

Cassidy was fuming after the game, remarking that the officiating in Game 5 was a ‘black eye’ for the NHL, as the Bruins now trail the Blues 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Final.

“What was being said? ‘You’re missing f-ing calls’ is what was being said on the bench,” Cassidy revealed during his postgame media availability.

“We thought we got screwed.”

Cassidy also said the narrative of the series changed after Blues head coach Craig Berube voiced his complaints about the refereeing following Boston’s Game 3 victory and remained in disbelief over Perron’s goal.

Bruins defenceman Torey Krug agreed with Cassidy’s assessment, then quickly moved on to the next question.

“It’s different game to game. You get two officials each game that come in and try to establish a different standard. Sometimes, it’s tough but we’ll have to figure out what that standard is next game and try to live on the edge,” Krug said.

The NHL’s officiating will be a talking point for better or worse, but it won’t change the outcome of the game, and the Bruins will need to win two in a row or else the Blues will lift the Cup for the first time in franchise history.

NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkom was already at work postgame as the league attempts to tackle the firestorm.

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