Tortorella rips refs in postgame tirade for apparent clock error

John Tortorella was in vintage form Sunday night after the Columbus Blue Jackets were deprived of an overtime winner in an eventual shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blue Jackets head coach expressed his anger with the officiating crew and the NHL's replay crew in Toronto after Zach Werenski's winner was disallowed, and - according to Tortorella - after the game crew wound a full second off the clock following a delay of game penalty.

Tortorella was also upset because Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo was injured in the ensuing shootout.

"The whistle is blown at 19.2 (seconds) on the clock," he said. "For some reason, the clock is run down a second and a tenth to 18.1. For whatever reason, I have no goddamn idea. So instead of resetting the clock, we have them tell our captain we're not going to do it. Toronto doesn't step in, refs don't do their freaking job, and now we lose the game and we lose our goalie.

"So the chain of events if it was done right, we don't lose our goalie (and) we win the hockey game," he continued. "So (with) all this goddamn technology, right? The technology and getting things right. The stubbornness (Sunday night) by the officials and by the league and by Toronto, however it's supposed to goddamn work, screws us.

"It's ridiculous. I'm not taking any goddamn questions," he added before abruptly leaving the podium.

The officials whistled the Blackhawks for delay of game with 19 seconds remaining, and Werenski's would-be goal came just a few tenths of a second after the buzzer in the extra frame.

"Video review determined that the puck crossed the Chicago goal line after time had expired," read the NHL's situation room's full explanation of the video review. It did not address the timekeeping issue on the stoppage beforehand.

The NHL will be calling Tortorella to address his remarks, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.