A highly questionable goaltender interference penalty called against phenom Connor Bedard during the Chicago Blackhawks' 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers has fans fuming.
The incident occurred in the second period when Flyers forward Bobby Brink pushed Bedard into Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson.
Bedard was assessed a two-minute minor for goaltender interference, despite being propelled into the netminder.
The controversial call immediately elicited outrage and disbelief from fans on social media. Many were quick to denounce it as one of the worst calls they had ever seen:
"That is quite possibly the worst call I've ever seen..."
Others chimed in and the consensus on NHL Twitter was that it was a bad call. Here are some fan reactions to the goaltender interference called against Connor Bedard:
The 18-year-old Bedard could only throw his hands up in disbelief and argue his case to no avail. Replays clearly showed he had been shoved into the goalie's path with no chance to avoid contact.
Connor Bedard’s Blackhawks record 5-1 win against the Flyers
Connor Bedard recorded an assist to add to his league-leading points among rookies.
Several other Blackhawks contributed offensively, as Philipp Kurashev, Joey Anderson and Lukas Reichel each scored a goal and added an assist. Nick Foligno and MacKenzie Entwistle rounded out the scoring with one goal apiece.
Goaltender Arvid Soderblom was solid in net for Chicago, making 30 saves to limit Philadelphia's offense.
Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson shared his thoughts on Chicago’s win with the media:
“The focus was the start tonight; it was fast. We engaged physically and played a real spirited game.
“Our guys did a good job of not really letting them get too much momentum,” Richardson added.
The lone goal for the Flyers came from Tyson Foerster, while netminder Samuel Ersson allowed 5 goals on 24 shots faced.
Flyers coach John Tortorella was disappointed with the loss and told reporters:
"We sucked tonight. We didn’t execute. We didn’t make one play.”
The rebuilding Blackhawks sit near the bottom of the league standings with a 22-47-5 record and a road record 7-29-1.