Officials make hilariously bad first penalty call of playoffs

We're less than a period in to the first round of the of the Stanley Cup playoffs and it didn't take long for the officials to take the spotlight away from the Carolina hurricanes and the New York Islanders. Just moments into the first period hilariously bad penalty call is made proving that the NHL won't do anything about the standard for which their officials should have.

Very early on in the first period the New York Islanders captain Anders Lee was called for a penalty on Carolina Hurricanes defender Brady Skjei; take a look.


This is absolutely not a penalty first off, second, it's a masterclass of a dive by Skjei. If this is the standard set for the entire playoffs, we're in trouble.


As a result of the horrendous penalty call, the Hurricanes would take a 1-0 lead. Almost at the end of the first period, the score is tied at 1.

This is why referees need to be held accountable for their terrible calls, it didn't matter much in the regular season, but they can have quite the influence on the outcome of a playoff series.

We'll see if it gets any better, if it doesn't everybody is in for a long playoff run this year.