Erik Johnson threw a fit at the referees

On Saturday night, the Buffalo Sabres had a tug-of-war with the Rangers in New York, where Don Donato’s soldiers lost 4-3.

I used the word “tug-of-war” because there was something behind this choice of syntax: no less than 37 penalty minutes were served solely to the Sabres following a big rumble between the two sides.

Erik Johnson was still upset when I spoke to him after the OT loss.

According to Johnson, the ref told the Sabres’ bench that he was given the instigator penalty because they were complaining too much in the first period.

“It was bullshit. “https://t.co/YwR0BgBaiK

– Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) December 24, 2023

This fight occurred with 7:12 remaining in the second period, and Erik Johnson was the main protagonist. Once things calmed down, Johnson made his way to the dock, and when the nature of the penalties was announced, he exploded!

Erik Johnson wires crossed in the box pic.twitter.com/hA1rqbkHXp

– Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) December 24, 2023

If he was so explosive, it was because of the two minutes for instigating, since according to him, he didn’t “instigate” anything at all. He called the poor decision “bullshit” and ridiculous, as did his head coach.

And that’s not all… the zebras justified this “crappy” call:

“It was absolutely ridiculous, and the referee tells Don that he gave me an unsportsmanlike penalty because we yelled at him in the first half for not making a call. So, tell me how that can be justified? I go to him, he obeys me. That’s hockey. He’s not an instigator. It was nonsense.” – Johnson

So Johnson explains that he and Will Cuylle were both up for a fight, so he didn’t have to get an extra two minutes.

“I don’t know if there’s a gray area with the instigator or whatever, but it’s not an instigator. It’s two willing fighters agreeing to fight after what I thought was a blow to my partner, a young player in a vulnerable spot, and he had to answer the bell for it. I thought it was ridiculous. I’d like to say more, even if I have to pay a fine. I don’t mind. I thought it was (nonsense)!” – Johnson

In any case, I can’t wait to see the fallout from this scenario, both on Johnson’s side and on the side of the referees, who screwed up somewhat during this round.

En Rafale

– I love this one!

Good stuff! Courtesy of my colleague @JBernierJDM… Merry Christmas! #Habs – Also on the Journal website: https://t.co/W5SQMvJ9Iv pic.twitter.com/o4qFDzWwlv

– Benoît Rioux – Journal de Montréal (@benrioux) December 24, 2023

– Ouff… Jean-Paul Chartrand’s death strikes on December 24!

– Big job for the equipment manager.

Equipment and training staffs are the heartbeat of hockey https://t.co/hThG8p7Qhm

– Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 24, 2023

– Simon Kean had some unfinished business.