Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was not happy with Jamie Benn’s overturned penalty after the game on Thursday. Bednar emphasized that Benn’s hit did indeed make contact with Devon Toews’ head during the play, expressing surprise at the fact that a penalty was not awarded.
During Game 2 of the Dallas Stars versus Colorado Avalanche playoff series, Jamie Benn delivered a hard hit on Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews, leading Toews to leave the ice for evaluation. Initially penalized for a head hit, the call was overturned upon review, as it was deemed Benn’s hit was legal, likely targeting Toews’ shoulder.
In the post-game media availability, when Bednar was asked about Devon Toews’ condition and the head coach’s thoughts on Jamie Benn’s hit, he confirmed that Toews is doing fine:
“Yeah, Toews is fine,” Bednar said. “Yeah, I don’t know, it’s a physical game, it’s a physical player. I just, you know, I don’t know what to say.”
Check out Jared Bednar’s full comments here (starts from 1:50 below):
Regarding the head hit, he noted that while the hit might have grazed Toews’ shoulder, the primary target was the head, and contact was made there. Bednar compared this incident to previous instances where similar actions resulted in penalties:
“Does he catch a piece of his shoulder? Yeah, I guess you could argue that, but the target is high and it’s at his head and it makes contact with the head,” Bednar said. “And I’ve seen, you know, many times guys get called for the head shot and penalty with a lot less than that.”
The head coach further mentioned that the lack of a penalty in this case left him questioning his understanding of the rules:
“But I guess they didn’t think so and this time of the year, you gotta play through some of that stuff,” Bednar added. “But for me, I don’t know, it just makes me wonder again what the rules that I know and don’t know and we’ll never probably figure out.”
Despite his frustration, Jared Bednar acknowledged that such situations are part of the game, particularly during the intense playoff period:
“But it is what it is. You gotta play through it. I’m glad he’s okay. Yeah, and it’s a physical game this time of year, but like I just can’t understand how it’s not a penalty, you know, even if it isn’t a five.”
The head coach expressed his relief that Toews was unharmed but reiterated his confusion over the lack of a penalty call, even if not a major one.
Jared Bednar opens up on disappointing second period
During the same interview, Bednar was asked to comment on his team’s first two periods of play which eventually made the third period more difficult.
The Colorado Avalanche coach mentioned he was relatively satisfied with the first period, noting that scoring chances were limited. He credited both goaltenders for making key saves and mentioned that despite allowing a power-play goal, the team had opportunities of their own, including a promising chance just before the period ended.
However, Bednar then criticized their play in the second period, describing it as where things fell out of order:
“The second period though for me is where it fell apart. Just not sharp. I mean, you can just go to the penalties alone and it shows you’re not sharp. You get two too many men on the ice penalties and you get two over the glass penalties that unforced, right?
He continued:
“So it’s 8 minutes of power play you’re giving a really good power play team and the rest of our execution and frustration kind of keeps building from there. Didn’t like the second period at all.”
Bednar pointed out their lack of sharpness in the second period, particularly evident in the team’s penalties, such as two too-many-men-on-the-ice infractions and two delay-of-game penalties for shooting the puck over the glass, which he referred to as unforced errors.
These penalties resulted in a significant amount of time on the penalty kill against a potent power-play opponent.
Now the Avalanche will be looking to retrieve their series lead when they host the Dallas Stars in Game 3 at Ball Arena on Saturday.
