Did refs blow call on that Patric Hornqvist hit on T.J. Oshie?

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ 8-7 win over the Washington Capitals on Monday night was one of the most entertaining regular-season games in recent memory. (The ratings for NBCSN were huge, comparatively.)

It was also one of the most controversial games in recent memory, which is understandable when the Capitals and Penguins are on the ice. Every missed call is a travesty, every close call is swung in either direction because the refs or the NHL or the Stonecutters want one team to win.

But beyond the goalie interference reviews and the Sidney Crosby “trip” on Alex Ovechkin in the all-too-brief overtime, there’s one play that’s clearly garnered the most attention: Patric Hornqvist’s high hit on T.J. Oshie, which sent the Capitals forward to the locker room for evaluation. (Oshie would return.)

A few reactions to the play. First, from Russian Machine Never Breaks:

Patric Hornqvist cross-checked forward TJ Oshie in the chin, causing the Caps forward to leave the game briefly. The officials missed it. Watch as Oshie digs in the corner for the loose puck, Hornqvist comes in on his blind side and launches into Oshie’s face. Watch as Oshie digs in the corner for the loose puck, Hornqvist comes in on his blind side and launches into Oshie’s face.

Hornqvist would get matching minors for roughing along with Daniel Winnik after the two briefly scrummed after the whistle. Beginning on the next shift, the Penguins would score five-straight goals (Evgeni Malkin, Conor Sheary, Nick Bonino, Bryan Rust, and Evgeni Malkin again) in 8:06.

From Sammi Silber from Fansided:

This was a scary play, and likely a call the officials should have made. Oshie was in full stride heading to the corner, and Hornqvist came in, bringing his elbow up and fully targeting the head.

Meanwhile, here’s Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Hornqvist and Winnik were called for coincidental roughing minors after a brush around the Capitals’ goal. It got the crowd into the game, but Crosby said he felt the Penguins had already started to turn the game around at that point. “I thought we had some really good shifts kind of leading up to that,” Crosby said. “We were in and around the net.”

Still, in an era where fighting is becoming a thing of the past, Hornqvist’s shoving match with Winnik after a whistle may not have been as dramatic as two heavyweights trading blows, but it had a similar effect.

“That’s Horny’s game,” defenseman Trevor Daley said. “He’s the guy who brings a lot of energy. He’s an emotional guy. We try to feed off it. Not too many guys have as much energy as he does.”

Did the refs blow a call here and allow the Penguins to get back into this game?

There was a lot talk last night about Honrqvist deserving an ejection, and we’re not really seeing evidence for that. It is surprising, however, that he didn’t receive an extra two minutes for roughing on the play, as this was textbook.

Was this bias for the Penguins?

Only in the sense that they were the team trailing in the game and the referees might have let one slip to keep things competitive.

Was this a turning point in the game? To hear Crosby tell it, the Penguins were getting their act together anyway. To hear Daley tell it, “yes.”

All we know is that 3:22 later, the game was tied. And that probably doesn’t happen if the Capitals were on the power play.

What a fun game that was. More please.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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