The Colorado Avalanche were livid Saturday night that their teammate, Matt Calvert, lay bleeding on the ice while play continued, and it had nothing to do with the goal scored by the Vancouver Canucks.
Calvert had been hit in the head by Elias Pettersson's wrist shot and immediately fell to the ice, bleeding from the right side of his head late in the third period. But because Vancouver had possession, officials let the play continue.
"It's a f---ing joke, man," Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson told The Athletic. "Like, you want to protect a guy? The guy's got a family at home. He's laying there bleeding out of his head and they don't blow the f---ing whistle? It's a complete joke. It's an absolute joke, and they should be ashamed of themselves."
Alex Edler scored for Vancouver as play continued, though Colorado eventually won the game in overtime.
"For me, we're talking about head injuries and what not, and that's the second time now in two weeks for us that a guy takes a puck in the face and is bleeding all over the ice and [officials are] letting it go," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.
"He's not moving so I just think we should blow it dead. Sometimes it's a tough call to make because you're trying to let the play go and seeing if he's going to get up. But I think eventually you should just blow it dead."
Vancouver coach Travis Green said the Canucks had a similar incident recently in Winnipeg when defenseman Chris Tanev was left hobbling on the ice after blocking a shot.
"My understanding is, if you have the puck with possession, you don't blow the whistle," Green said. "Right or wrong, that's the way the rule has been for a while. We got fortunate tonight. You don't like to see someone laying down hurt like that."
The Canucks did not have a postgame update on Calvert, who eventually skated off with the aid of a trainer as blood dripped from the side of his head.
