Ref Swallows Whistle On Obvious Ovechkin Penalty, Bettors And Blue Jackets Get Fucked

Bad beats suck bad enough. But when it happens due to negligence by officials, it just stings more. 

To set the scene, Zach Hyman was about to blow by Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom for an empty net goal to go up 4-2 and seal the big win for the Oilers. Then this happened. 

Ovie looked like Fonzie getting ready to jump the shark and the refs were nowhere to be found. Should've at least been a PP & possibly another pulled goalie if not an awarded goal like Oilers legend and responsible gambler Ryan Whitney says should have happened.

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And he's not wrong---it probably should've been a Puck Line Jesus. Here's the rule.

If, when the opposing goalkeeper has been removed from the ice, a player in control of the puck (or who could have obtained possession and control of the puck) in the neutral or attacking zone is tripped or otherwise fouled with no opposition between him and the opposing goal, thus preventing a reasonable scoring opportunity, the Referee shall immediately stop play and award a goal to the attacking team.

After the non-call, you know what happened. 

T.J. Oshie with an absolute top-shelf bomb ties it with .8 seconds left and kills Edmonton in regulation plays. All because refs gave Ovie the Jordan Treatment on one of the most blatant "last resort maneuver you have to take to prevent an obvious goal" penalties these eyes have seen this season. It was actually shocking to see it not called.

And you who else it fucked? These guys.

Ben Jackson. Getty Images.

The Blue Jackets have been one of the most entertaining teams to watch over the last month or so. They had 10 of 11 games go over the total in one stretch. The give up a lot and score a lot and are fun to watch. They went on a nice little heater to get within sniffing distance of the then-meh Washington Capitals and actually make the East playoffs chase interesting for a bit. But then they lost three in a row while the Caps won three in a row and the gap almost doubled. So that means every single point is deathly important to the Blue Jackets down the stretch.

But as a result of that no call last night, they sit 13 points back of Washington now instead of 12. They also have two games in hand with 25 games left (the Caps have 23 left). It would take a hell of a run to catch them but it's not impossible (remember the Hamburglar?). Yet it was made that much tougher because of a blatant non-call that unnecessarily turned a two-point game into a three-point game. Imagine they end up out of the playoffs by a point? Shit's tough to swallow if you're on Columbus. Or if it cost you dough.