During last night's victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Capitals got away with a penalty that was not called. In the third period, Anthony Mantha chased down Justin Holl who was going after the puck in the end boards. Mantha grabbed Holl's head and rammed it into the end boards. Holl lost his helmet and had to return to the bench.
Thankfully, Holl appeared to be alright as he hit the boards pretty hard. Holl's leg also got caught behind him as he fell. Holl finished the game and he was probably evaluated after the game to see if he's was hurt. The referee did not call a penalty on this play and they certainly should have.
Shortly after the non-call, Erik Gustafsson scored his third goal of the game to make it 5-2 and the Capitals cruised to the victory. Mantha's bad hit was not the sole reason the Maple Leafs lost the game. However, if a penalty was correctly called on the hit on Justin Holl it might have helped the Leafs get back into the game . More importantly the referees need to call these hits to try and protect the health and safety of the players. Yes the game is going on at record speed, but with two referees in the game someone should have called this a penalty.
