I think some of that mentality comes from the old guard of let them play, it's the playoffs. Another reason I think the NHL needs player age and higher skill level refs, nothing against them or older people just the game is so fast now that unless everything is reviewable they have to find ways to improve the humans that call the game and having a higher threshold of requirements would help.
I'm not sure it's on the refs , they just follow directives.
Now, making everything review able is the only thing I want to hear this summer, otherwise I'm not sure I want to invest any more time in this sport. I love this game and it's the best game on earth to me but it's being handled by people who are not interested in the integrity of the sport but the almighty dollar. It suffers from an inferiority complex that makes it behave in as inferior things/people do
It is last among NA sports and it will stay that way.
Recently, I was watching an NBA game. Now I'm not much of a basketball guy and while I keep track of what's going on during the season but I don't watch to many games, but I do tune in for the PO's. So the Raptors were ahead by about 10 points and there is something like 30 seconds left in the game
( cearly out of reach for GS) yet the refs take the time to video review who put the the ball out of bounds. Does it really matter? Yes and no. The game has been decided by the score , but no rock is left unturned, that is what I want see, otherwise I'll watch basketball going forward.