Golden Knights forward Cody Eakin was more confused than angry in the moments immediately following the most consequential call in franchise history.
After the referees placed him in the penalty box midway through the third period of Tuesday night’s Game 7 in San Jose for a cross-check, he was relieved when one of them skated over and ushered him out.
“I thought ‘OK, they just reviewed it and realized it wasn’t a penalty so I’ll head back to the bench,’” Eakin said Thursday in his first public comments since the Knights were eliminated. His subsequent five-minute game-misconduct penalty spurred a historic comeback — all for hitting Sharks captain Joe Pavelski in the chest.