Rick Tocchet was not pleased with the 10-minute misconduct Trevor Zegras took in the Flyers' loss to the Wild on Tuesday night, according to BarDown.
The call came after a goal against that, per the post, started with contact on the referee. Zegras was hit with the misconduct for tapping his stick at the official, and the Flyers coach did not like it.
BarDown noted that Tocchet was unhappy about Zegras getting the 10 minutes for a stick tap at the referee after a goal that began with the ref being hit.
The timing makes it worse. Philadelphia lost 4-2 to Minnesota, and the misconduct was the only thing on Zegras's line that grabbed attention. He finished with 10 PIM, one assist and a -3 rating in 20:01 of ice time.
Zegras has been a key piece for the Flyers all season, and the group needs him on the ice, not in the box. He has 14 points in 17 games, including six power-play assists.
His last few days have already been eventful. He left a game against Utah hurt on Sunday, then spoke after Monday's practice, and now he is back in the middle of a story for a different reason.
Why this misconduct stings the Flyers
Tocchet's frustration is easy to understand. Coming into Tuesday's game, Philadelphia sat 29th in the NHL at 4-9-4, with a goal differential of -21. Those numbers are from before the Minnesota game.
When a team is in that hole, it can't afford to hand over ten minutes of discipline on a call the coach doesn't agree with. Whether the league sees it the same way as the bench is another matter, and nothing in the post says anything about a review.
Give Tocchet credit for backing his player. A coach who played 1144 NHL games knows how tempers run in a building, and he clearly felt this one was harsh.
The Flyers got scoring from Denver Barkey and Tyson Foerster against Minnesota, but it wasn't enough, and Daniel Vladar stopped 18 of 21 shots in the loss.
Philadelphia now gets little time to reset. The Flyers visit the Rangers on Thursday, and Zegras will be looking to keep his stick, and his composure, in check.
