Flyers John Tortorella Unloads On Referee After Bizarre Sequence Where Ref Changed His Mind Mid-Play

I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve watched quite a bit of hockey in my day. Just ask my fiancé, who puts up with it from October into the middle of June every year (what a saint she is). However, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like what happened on Wednesday night at Little Caesar’s Arena when the Detroit Red Wings took on the Philadelphia Flyers.

This was the second time the two teams met over the last week with the Flyers winning 4-1 (or, rather, Scott Laughton won 4-1) last Thursday in Philadelphia.

It was a back-and-forth affair in Detroit, but with about eight-and-a-half minutes in regulation and the Red Wings leading 5-4, things got weird when referee Michael Markovic signaled a defensive zone penalty on Detroit, but quickly put his arm back down and let play continue.

However, the Flyers — seemingly acting on instinct — saw the arm go up which meant netminder Sam Ersson had put his head down and started hoofing it to the bench, while forward Travis Konecny hopped the boards as the extra attacker.

The confusion left the Flyers with six skaters plus a goalie on the ice, and they were whistled for too many men.

Head coach John Tortorella was irate.

I can understand why they were mad. The arm wasn’t up long, but it was up long enough for players to react, and considering this moment happens dozens and dozens of times per year, teams aren’t conditioned to go, “Hang on, let’s make sure the arm is still up.”

As soon as it’s up, teams react.

To the officials’ credit, they talked it over and decided that there was no penalty on the play; no too many men call on the Flyers, but also no call on the Red Wings that kind of set the entire sequence in motion.

In the end, the Red Wings held on to the lead and tacked on an empty-netter to beat the Flyers 6-4.