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Huska frustrated with refs after Flames loss, but not for the reason you'd think

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Dec 6 2024, 1:00 pm
Huska frustrated with refs after Flames loss, but not for the reason you'd think
Sergei Belski/Imagn Images

Calgary Flames head coach Ryan Huska was not a happy camper after a controversial overtime loss last night.

Officials huddled for several minutes to deem if Colton Parayko had interfered with Flames goaltender Dan Vladar on the game-winning goal. To the disappointment of many, the goal stood following the lengthy review.

Huska admitted afterward that it wasn’t the goal itself that frustrated him, but the fact that he was given zero explanation as to why it counted.

“It’s frustrating, to be quite honest with you,” head coach Ryan Huska said afterward. “If you’re going to call it that way, it’s fine, but the referees can come over and explain it, [instead] they just skate themselves right off the ice. That’s the part that bothers me a little bit, as to why. Why was it a good goal?

“The way I see it, Danny made a save, and he probably would have kept it out if his pad wasn’t pushed in.”

Vladar, who appeared to be very frustrated on the ice following the ruling, took some time to compose himself before speaking with reporters. He seemed to be choosing his words quite carefully when discussing the play.

“I just saw it on the jumbotron, so I’ve got to take a look at it again … Obviously I respect the call,” Vladar said. “It is what it is.”

While the final goal was the main talking point, it wasn’t the only thing that led to this loss. The usually cool and collected Huska was visibly irritated by his team’s penalty kill, which struggled again last night and now sits at 30th in the league.

“You have to outwork a power play,” Huska said. “If you’re willing to do that, you’re going to kill penalties off. It’s not rocket science killing penalties. Our penalty kill does not match our five-on-five play, and that to me is where the issue comes in.”

 

There were still a few positives to take from this one, as Jakob Pelletier, who was recalled from the Calgary Wranglers on Sunday, was able to open the scoring for the Flames with his first of the season.

“It’s been a tough year and a half. It felt good, just to score a big goal too, it was 2-0 [before],” said Pelletier. “To [score] a big goal again, it felt pretty good, to be honest.”

Despite the loss, the Flames were able to pick up a single point, which helped them jump back into third place in the Pacific Division.

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