Is this a reason why coaches should be allowed to challenge penalties?<\/p>\n
PublishedJanuary 21, 2026 5:20 PM EST\u2022UpdatedJanuary 21, 2026 4:04 PM EST<\/p>\n
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We’ve all experienced a bad call that went against our team, but I promise you, there aren’t too many calls that are going to be worse than the tripping call that was made on Montreal Canadiens<\/a> defenseman Lane Hutson on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n The Habs welcomed the Minnesota Wild<\/a> to the Bell Centre for a battle between two teams that are currently sitting third in their respective divisions.<\/p>\n This one was back and forth with the Canadiens up 3-2 late in the second period, which is when we need to skip to for a closer look.<\/p>\n READ: GOALIE FIGHT CHAOS ERUPTS AS SERGEI BOBROVSKY CHARGES 200 FEET TO DEFEND PANTHERS<\/a><\/p>\n With under two minutes to go in the period, the Canadiens moved the puck up ice with Hutson slowing down at the blueline to stay onside.<\/p>\n He was being covered by Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno, who was skating backward to defend against the rush.<\/p>\n But, as Foligno hit the blueline, he fell backward.<\/p>\n Hutson was nearby and was handed a two-minute minor for tripping, but if you watch the playback, you’ll see that the officials got this one wrong.<\/p>\n Are you kidding me?<\/p>\n I know the game happens at a crazy fast pace, but you just can’t have calls like this. Especially since a linesman should’ve had a pretty good view at that play, and he could have gone to the referee and said, “Bro, he didn’t touch him.”<\/p>\n I wouldn’t go so far as to say we need to let officials use replay to review minor penalties at their discretion \u2014 let’s keep NHL<\/a> game lengths right where they are, around that 2-and-a-half hour mark \u2014 but maybe you let coaches use their challenge on a play like this.<\/p>\n