Others and I have already explained you how this happens.
For the bold, your initial statement was that it WAS definitive embellishment, and this is what we've been addressing.
"Grabbing your face after a stick misses is embellishment no matter what way you look at it."
"However he then grabbed at his face like he had been hit by the stick. Can't embellish a high stick then say it didn't hit you and expect to not get called"
The ref giving him an embellishment for that is definitely wrong. If you disagree, you it means you'd agree with a player being given a penalty for embellishment after tripping by themselves (crack on the ice, bad feet movement, etc.) while an opponent's stick is nearby but never touching their skate.
Embellishment is a penalty that requires intent. Reflexes, reaction times, being weak on your skates, etc. are all thing that explain over >50% of stuff many consider embellishment. It's very easy to discern high stick embellishments from those that are not. Those that embellish will keep holding for longer and might take more time to move their hands towards their face assuming the stick wasn't super close when it passed by.