The Nashville Predators blanked the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 on Tuesday, thanks to a brilliant 31-save performance by Predators goaltender Juuse Saros of Forssa, Finland, who recorded his first shutout of the season, and 12th shutout of his National Hockey League career. However, this game will go down in history for a controversial statement made by NHL referee Tim Peel.
In the second period, Peel was overheard saying “it wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a (expletive) penalty against Nashville early in the.” The expletive was an inappropriate swear word, and said by Peel after Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson was called for a tripping penalty. Peel has subsequently been banned from working any future NHL games, with NHL Hockey Operations Vice President Colin Campbell stating “nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game.”
The Predators earned two points in the standings. If the Red Wings had won this particular game, things could have got ugly, as Peel was showing definite favoritism toward Detroit with his inappropriate statement. We do not know Peel’s entire statement, but what he did say was enough for him to lose his job in the minds of the NHL front office.
This was not the first time Peel has got into trouble. In 2015, he was suspended after agreeing to be interviewed with Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports. Peel discussed particular calls that Wyshynski had been critical of, and why he made them.
The actions of Peel overshadowed Saros’s shutout. Saros made eight saves in the first period, 12 saves in the second period, and 11 saves in the third period. Nashville meanwhile got goals from Mathieu Olivier and Mikael Granlund. For Olivier, it was only his second career NHL goal. With the win, Saros improves to a record of seven wins, six regulation losses, a 2.58 goals-against average, and a .919 save percentage.
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