There's been a lot of chatter about calls going in the Sharks' favor through the current Stanley Cup Playoffs -- and their coach has had just about enough of that.
During media availability the morning after San Jose's 5-4 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues, bench boss Peter DeBoer was asked if his team was "lucky" in getting calls that go in his team's favor. DeBoer let out a sigh.
“It irks me when you use words like that," he responded, "because this team has played four or five elimination games. Not moments. Games. Twelve to 15 periods of elimination hockey against Vegas, against Colorado in Game 7. So, I think it’s a ridiculous statement."
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A non-call on what appeared to be a hand pass by Timo Meier to set up the Sharks' overtime game-winning goal isn't the first instance through these playoffs where fingers have been wagged at the Sharks for calls going their way.
There was the penalty on Gabriel Landeskog in Game 7 against the Avalanche that overturned what could've been a game-tying goal for Colorado. There was also, of course, the five-minute major called on Golden Knights' forward Cody Eakin in the Game 7 between San Jose and Vegas that led to the Sharks scoring four power-play goals in just as many minutes.
For DeBoer, that's part of the game -- not a couple of strokes of luck.
San Jose Sharks
"I heard (Hurricanes coach) Rod Brind’amour speak out about it, and I thought he said it best," he said. "Those things happen so quickly on the ice, and there are so many bodies flying around and there are split-second decisions and it’s easy when we sit there on the bench or you guys look at a TV monitor and criticize and hold people accountable for errors that happen in milliseconds."
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The Sharks now have a two-games-to-one series lead over the Blues heading into Game 4, and DeBoer likely would prefer to put the topic of how his team won Game 3 to rest.
“You know what? We’ve found a way," DeBoer continued. "And we’ve faced a lot of adversity. We’ve had calls go against us and we’ve had calls go for us, and we’re still standing. For anybody to minimize that, I think is disrespectful to our group and what we’ve done.”