How do you criticize the refs without criticizing the refs? We’ve seen players in various sports give it their best shot over the years, to mixed results. Publicly criticizing officials typically come with some pretty significant fines from the league, so Nikita Zadorov was careful(ish) in his criticism of the officials following the Canucks’ game five loss to the Nashville Predators on home ice.

In the game, Zadorov scored the game’s first goal to get the Canucks on the board just over three minutes into the third period. The low-event, tight-checking affair had finally been broken open, and the only thing keeping the Canucks from knocking off the Predators in five games was 16 minutes of what they’d already done for the previous 44 minutes of play: not letting Nashville score.

The game took a bit of a controversial turn when a penalty against Dakota Joshua left the Canucks shorthanded for the fourth time in the game. Nashville capitalized on a questionable goal, which may or may not have been goaltender interference.

Earlier in the game, Zadorov was called for cross-checking Preds forward Filip Forsberg in what looked like it could have also been a two-minute minor for embellishing against Forsberg. Zadorov didn’t mince words post game, but did manage to avoid picking up a fine.

“I mean, it’s the NHL playoffs. Everyone needs to be on their game, not just the players. I’m not sure what more Dakota could have done; he was backchecking and finished his check. The kid’s been avoiding hits for five games straight; you’ve got to protect yourself out there. It’s a tough league. I’m trying to choose my words carefully here to avoid a $25,000 fine, but everyone saw what happened. As I said, ultimately, it’s the players who are responsible for their actions on the ice, but there are a few other people accountable for ensuring the integrity of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and they can’t ignore stuff like this.”

Of course, the Canucks went on to beat the Predators in game six to advance to the second round of the playoffs, so it might have been easy to forget this game and the comments that followed from Zadorov.

You can read the full story by clicking here, and be sure to tune in each day until December 31st for the rest of our countdown!

Our list so far:

#10: Tocchet tries not to tamper when asked about trading for Sidney Crosby
#9: When the Canucks’ team plane was stranded in Buffalo