Anaheim just got robbed by this controversial call
An offside review went Vegas's way Monday night, and Anaheim fans aren't letting it go on social media less than 24 hours after Game 1.
The play in question involved Ivan Barbashev driving into the offensive zone and Jack Eichel finishing the sequence. The tweet making the rounds Tuesday morning argues Barbashev was clearly short of the line.
Jackson Lacombe was on Eichel in coverage. The argument is that the Ducks defenseman had body position locked up before the puck went in.
Whichever side of the call you sit on, the visual is doing the talking now.
The clip is moving fast across hockey accounts, and the Ducks fan base has spent Tuesday morning hammering the league for letting the play stand.
This is exactly the kind of moment that defines a Round 2 underdog series. Anaheim came in as the wild card.
They stunned Edmonton in 6 games to start the playoffs. They didn't expect a friendly whistle list to greet them in the next round.
Lacombe is having a series of his own. The 25-year-old defenseman posted 9 points and a +6 rating across 6 first-round games, with 8 assists from the back end on a $925,000 cap hit.
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Why this controversy hits a series with no margin for missed calls
Vegas is the favorite on paper. The Knights finished 39-26-17 for 95 points, first in their division, riding a 7-0-3 closing stretch into the playoffs.
Anaheim was 43-33-6 for 92 points, third in the same division. The Ducks went 2-6-2 over their final 10 regular-season games. Nobody outside Orange County thought they'd be playing in May.
Then they walked into Edmonton's building and walked out with a series win.
The script flipped. The story changed. Now Eichel and Barbashev arrive as the new measuring stick, and a single offside review can shape the perception of the whole round.
Eichel produced one of the best regular seasons of his career. The 29-year-old captain put up 27 goals and 90 points in 74 games on a $10 million cap hit, with 27 power play assists and a +23 rating.
Through the first round, his playoff line jumped to 1 goal, 9 points, and an even rating across 6 games against Utah. He's the engine. Bruce Cassidy knows it. The Ducks know it too.
Barbashev's job is the dirty work. The 30-year-old Russian put up 23 goals and 61 points in 82 games on a $5 million cap hit, and his postseason has produced 2 goals and 6 points across 6 games.
Here's the editorial line. Replay reviews are not a fix for officiating.
They're an accelerant for arguments.
The longer the league spends staring at frame-by-frame footage in a war room, the longer the public stays mad about whatever the room decides.
That's the part that makes Game 2 different. Anaheim cannot win this series losing close calls in slow motion.
Vegas cannot win it letting the underdog play with a chip on every shoulder.
Whoever benches the next emotional reaction first wins the next 60 minutes. The clip will live on social media all week. The series picks up from there.
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LIVE
MAY 4, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nikolaj Ehlers | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jamie Drysdale | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Carl Grundstrom | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jackson Lacombe | - | 1 | 1 | |
| K'Andre Miller | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sean Walker | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | - | - | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||