Referee changes coming to Game 6 in Montreal as well

It was announced earlier today that NHL officials Kelly Sutherland and Eric Furlatt are scheduled to work Game 5 of the Montreal Canadiens vs Vegas Golden Knights series this evening, per Sportsnet NHL insider Chris Johnston. 

And now it sounds like Furlatt and Sutherland will get to officiate Game 6 on Thursday as well now that insider Pierre LeBrun has announced that “there’s a decent chance they also work Game 6 in Montréal.”

When James Duthie asked LeBrun about the possibility of Chris Lee returning for Game 6 and what the league made of the controversial non-calls, the insider replied that the league is not overly disappointed with the refereeing in Game 4, they’re not worried about it but there is a sense Game 4 was a “bad night...”

They might have made the decision afterwards to give the new referees as the officials of the series... 

Officiating has obviously been a hot button issue in this series and the Canadiens and their fanbase have been absolutely giving it to the refs for unbalanced calls. Game 4 in particular had some bizarre non-calls against Vegas, to the point where Habs fans accused NHL referee Chris Lee of having it out for the team. Today though, those same Habs fans are learning to be careful what you wish for because swapping out Chris Lee for Kelly Sutherland isn’t exactly some giant improvement. In fact, Sutherland has a bit of a history with the team going back years and years. Suffice it to say that Habs fans aren’t exactly happy with today’s announcement, even with Lee taken off the case.

They therefore might not be thrilled to find out that Furlatt and Sutherland could make the trip back to Montreal for Thursday night’s game. 

I guess we will have a better idea after Game 5 tonight and the calls that are made… or simply forgotten.