Pivotal Moment: Phantom High Stick

Prior to the penalty being called, the Wild were losing 2-1 to the Penguins and the ice was definitely tilted in the Pens favor. That trend started when the puck dropped and continued until the final horn. Yet by the end the of the game the Wild were able to fight back and make things interesting. Unfortunately for the Wild, they fell just short of their cause. Now in case you missed it, @myregularface on twitter gif'd this call for us all, to live on in infamy.

Try as they might, the Wild were just not able to get that game tying goal that may have secured them at least 1 point in the contest. Had the phantom high sticking penalty not been called, we could be discussing an entirely different 2nd half of that game.

The game very well could have ended in defeat without the phantom high sticking call. But that penalty put a little pep in the step of the Penguins, who didn't really need any extra help in dominating the game. The high sticking call was obviously not the only gaffe by the refs last night. I'm definitely not trying to suggest that the Wild were the only ones on the short end of the stick as far as the zebra's were concerned. Yet in just under 4 minutes from the time of that penalty, the Wild went from being down 2-1 to being down 4-1, and fighting your way back from that is a pretty daunting task for any team to overcome, especially on the road.