So you would just ignore the fact that Tampa had more men on the ice when Kadri scored than Colorado?
Given how often it seems to happen in the playoffs, I would have been surprised if anybody had been whistled for a penalty on that play.
I think the Avs 6th man (Kadri) violating the rule more directly, as he came on too early and touched too early relative to where the ‘5th’ man was, is more important than the Bolts slow changers who weren’t playing the puck and had no real way of affecting that sequence.
That said I think it was miscommunication by the Avs over who was changing, and eagerness, rather than sneakiness; and from the officials perspective I can see how that whole sequence might have been a confusing cluster f*** they genuinely missed on a quick rush chance.
It’s probably a situation that should be clarified within the rules and reviewable, as it won’t happen often enough to bring constant challenges (it would be infrequent) but it can happen such that it does screw a team as it did here.
In the grand scheme this wasn’t the only problem Tampa had to worry about or needs to correct, but I can see why they have a problem with it given the importance of the moment. But at the same time I’m not saying Avs fans should feel less about the win, the application of rules isn’t perfect and teams do win on situations like this sometimes. Just is what it is.