TAMPA, Fla. — Avalanche coach Jared Bednar twice on Thursday morning dismissed Tampa Bay’s complaint that the winning overtime goal in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Wednesday night should not have counted.
“I thought it was nothing, honestly,” Bednar said before the team boarded its charter flight back to Denver. “That happens every second shift the entire game.”
Lightning coach Jon Cooper, in his brief postgame news conference late Wednesday, said “my heart breaks for the players because we probably still should be playing.” He walked out without explaining what he meant, but it is believed that he thought the officials missed an Avalanche too-many-men penalty before Nazem Kadri’s overtime goal gave Colorado a 3-2 victory and 3-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.