The Colorado Avalanche were not happy after superstar Nathan MacKinnon was ejected from Tuesday's loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
MacKinnon received a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct after colliding with Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram.
MacKinnon was driving the net during a scoring chance when he made contact with Ingram through the blue paint. Ingram immediately went down and appeared to be in pain.
The referees called the five-minute major penalty for goaltender interference, which was confirmed upon a lengthy review.
Upon speaking with training staff, Ingram was able to skate off the ice on his own power with visible cuts on his head. Tristan Jarry entered the game in his place and remained in the game to start the third period. Emergency backup Benjamin Hause dressed for the third period and the Oilers ultimately rallied to win 4-3.
Speaking after the game, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar disagreed with the decision to charge MacKinnon with a five-minute major.
"There's no chance he hits the goalie if (Darnell) Nurse doesn't run into him," Bednar said to reporters. "I don't care if he's injured, not injured, if it's a severe crash, not a severe crash — it's not a penalty. If you put guys into your own goalie, it's not a penalty.
"The goalie's hurt, so it's five (minutes). Again, I really don't give a crap if the goalie's hurt. That's on their d-man, not our guy."
"They ref the way they want to ref," Cale Makar added. "Sometimes they miss stuff, sometimes they don't, and it's just the way it goes sometimes."
After the game, head coach Kris Knoblauch was unable to provide an update on Ingram's condition, but did say he was in concussion protocol.
"He's feeling well, obviously that can change, but he was not allowed to come back," the bench boss said, adding that the goaltender "feels good."
MacKinnon, who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 2024 and is in the running to receive it again this year, finished with 14:17 playing time and one shot on goal. In 61 games this season, the Cole Harbour, N.S., native has 104 points.
Ingram, 28, has been the de facto No. 1 amongst a struggling goalie tandem, starting 18 games with a .892 save percentage and 2.78 goals-against average.
The Oilers also lost Colton Dach and Ty Emberson to injuries in the game, while the Avalanche's Ross Colton left with an injury.
