Graney: Golden Knights got robbed on tripping non-call in OT

I stand with Lil Wayne.

The Golden Knights got robbed.

It’s what the rapper and hip-hop artist tweeted after Edmonton’s 5-4 overtime win Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.

After the Oilers took a 2-0 series lead with Game 3 on Saturday in Edmonton.

After one of the worst missed calls you will see in a hockey game. In any game.

It came – or, well, didn’t – with 4:57 remaining in overtime and saw Oilers right wing Viktor Arvidsson tripping Brayden McNabb from behind and sending the Knights defenseman crashing into the boards.

McNabb left the ice under his own power but favoring his shoulder.

Edmonton scored the winning goal 17 seconds later.

The Knights instead should have been on a power play. Two of their four goals had come on the power play.

Yeah. Sort of a huge deal.

Blow the whistle

The non-call was terrible. Gord Dwyer was the official looking right at the action. No idea how he couldn’t blow his whistle. It was a borderline dirty play. But it was something. It more than warranted a two-minute minor. That’s not debatable. Nobody denies it.

Play was only stopped because McNabb was down and injured.

Dwyer didn’t make a call, so there would be no review, for which I’m guessing the league is happy.

The NHL views most calls — or non-calls — as subjective in nature and rely on an official’s interpretation. The league doesn’t want frequent stoppages so as to interfere with the flow of a game, especially those that tend to be as exciting as a playoff matchup does.

What a bunch of nonsense.

Arvidsson tripped McNabb. It was obvious. The fact that McNabb went into the boards at such a violent rate only heightened such a truth.

The NFL’s review system generally avoids overturning subjective calls, especially those involving penalties. The NBA has its coaches’ challenges. Baseball managers can also challenge certain calls.

But when none is made, you’re most often forced to live with the outcome.

“It’s awful to see,” Knights forward Victor Olofsson said. “I think it was a pretty clear trip and a dangerous play going full speed and maybe 10 feet away from the boards. Pretty clear trip. I think that was a pretty obvious call they didn’t make.”

These aren’t like the five-minute major assessed against Knights center Nicolas Roy for cross-checking in overtime. Once that call is made, officials review it to determine the severity of the play. They did in that case. And got it right.

But playoff games are too important to miss such a call as the trip on McNabb. Get it right. There is too much riding on the outcome of such plays.

Mistakes happen. Officials are human. I’m sure there were other calls missed on both sides.

Just don’t compound things by standing behind some archaic belief that too many video reviews are bad for the sport, so fewer calls are better than not.

“We were fortunate,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said Friday. “It should have been tripping. It doesn’t matter. Every game, I’m sure Vegas has other plays they felt there should have been calls on, and we’ve got a list of plays we thought should have been called or benefited from.”

Must be better

Now, many will say we’re talking about nearly 80 minutes of hockey. The Knights have things to clean up. They allowed three goals in less than seven minutes. Their best player (Jack Eichel) didn’t have a shot until the third period.

They played well enough to win and yet can be much better.

None of it takes away from the trip that wasn’t called.

Knights coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t have an update on McNabb’s status Friday. It certainly didn’t look good as the player skated down the tunnel in pain.

“Have to move past it,” Cassidy said. “We addressed it (Thursday). I thought it was a clear trip that didn’t get called. That’s it. It’s over. We’ll see how the health of our player is because of it.”

You go, Lil Wayne. Robbed is right.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.