Zdeno Chara’s courageous return dominated most of the conversation on Thursday prior to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The story line remained hot for two-plus periods, especially with the Bruins fighting their way back from a 1-0 deficit, trying to put a puck behind Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.
But then came referee Kelly Sutherland to steal the show — and perhaps swipe the Stanley Cup out of the Bruins’ hands — with a showcase piece of failed, dumbfounding officiating.
And all that good work by Chara?
Courageous. Impressive. Commendable. All of that and more. People will talk about Big Z’s run up Causeway Street hill for years to come.
For a guy believed to have had surgery Tuesday or Wednesday for a cracked jaw, Big Z logged a valuable 16:42 of ice time (1:21 of it killing penalties) and carved himself a comfortable niche in Boston sports lore by showing up for the opening shift only some 71 hours after taking a puck to the jaw Monday night in St. Louis.
But Sutherland, the guy in black-and-white stripes, was the Game 5 show-stopper.
With no explanation other than that he might have gone “dead in the head” — a common officiating expression for NHL referees who fail to make calls they know should be made — Sutherland did not blow his whistle when the Blues’ Tyler Bozak hauled down Noel Acciari from behind with a textbook slew foot at approximately 10:30 of the third period.
Acciari tumbled backward deep on the left wing in the Blues’ offensive zone, near the boards. It was an egregious, blatant slew foot, of the ilk Boston’s Brad Marchand has been suspended for in the past. The play should have been blown dead even before Acciari hit the ground, his head smacking the ice, a hit that ultimately ended the hard-rock right winger’s night.
But, no call. Sutherland stood there, in silence, the play kept rolling, and only seconds later (10:36) David Perron banged home the 2-0 St. Louis lead.
It ended up as the winning goal, served up nice and neat by a non-call.
Dandy.
What was said in the moment on the Boston bench?
“He missed the effing call is what was being said on the bench,” said Boston coach Bruce Cassidy, obviously irked by the referee’s ineptitude. “For obvious reasons.”
Up on the ninth floor, in the moment, irate team president Cam Neely punctuated the moment in true No. 8 fashion, by jumping up from his seat in management’s box and firing a water bottle toward the room’s rear. Sutherland instantly joined Ulf Samuelsson in Neely’s personal Hell of Fame.
The video clips of Chara’s return will be seen for years to come on YouTube. But check back a couple of years from now, and see who has the most “views.” Neely will win that tale of the tape by tens of thousands.
“After that,” Cassidy added, still commenting on the mood in real time on the bench, “we had to settle down and play . . . listen, we thought we got screwed. But you gotta keep playing. We did. We got the next goal and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
True, Jake DeBrusk nailed in a one-timer to cut the Blues’ lead to 2-1. The Bruins had a chance, right to the final rundown of the clock, with Tuukka Rask pulled. But Sutherland had drained 99 percent of their mojo with his boo-boo.
Once again, the NHL, a multibillion-dollar industry, was hurt badly by 10-cent officiating.
“The non-call on Acciari,” mused Cassidy. “Their player is on his way to the box. Right in front of the official. It’s a slew foot. Our guy [Acciari] is gone. The spotter took him out of the game for a possible concussion. I mean, it’s blatant. It had a big effect on the game.
“I mean, this has happened . . . I’m a fan of the game. The National Hockey League is getting a black eye with their officiating this playoffs. And here is another one that’s going to be talked about.”
■ Earlier, before the dunderheaded officiating, it looked like Chara, the first Bruin to line up at the blue line for pregame introductions, was blinking back tears during a prolonged ovation when emcee Jim Martin introduced him to the Garden crowd.
The sellout crowd of 17,565 poured on its adoration and the stoic Chara stared straight ahead, his eyelids going up and down.
Chara worked with a slightly smaller workload than usual in the first, logging 5:55 across 11 shifts. His partner, Charlie McAvoy, logged only 6:00.
It had to be difficult for Chara, unable to talk after leaving Game 4 early in the second period Monday. Communication is key, especially for blue liners, who often must holler to their partners when the opposition is applying pressure in the defensive zone. Hard for Chara not to talk, but also for McAvoy not to be able to hear his captain’s barks when fetching pucks under pressure.
Big Z’s minutes bumped up to 12:10 through 40:00, and he finished with 16:42, a modest night’s work for him. He was the last out of the room for the start of the third period. Don’t be surprised if Cassidy waits until game time on Sunday (approximately 8:15) to reveal if Big Z can suit up for Game 6.
■ Chara’s return came with journeyman Steven Kampfer, dressed as the No. 7 defenseman — a move that bumped veteran winger, and ex-Blues captain, David Backes to the sideline. With the Backes spot open at right wing on the line with DeBrusk and David Krejci, top-line right winger David Pastrnak drew double-shift duty.
■ Rask faced only eight shots on net in the 0-0 first period, but he made two exceptional stops to keep the Bruins from falling in arrears. The first came at 13:55 when he turned back a Jay Bouwmeester point-blank wrister from the slot, the veteran defenseman the last of the Blues to enter the zone and rip off his prime chance. The second was off Perron, set up by a Ryan O’Reilly cross-slot fee on a power play with 1:28 left in the first.
Rask on the non-call: “I think everyone was kind of expecting the whistle, but then you just play to the whistle, right? Just one of those you hope for the whistle, but . . . you keep playing.”
■ Already with Matt Grzelcyk living in the land of the concussed, the Bruins came close to two more bad head knocks in the first two periods.
Early in the first, Ivan Barbashev took a high run at Marcus Johansson in Boston’s offensive end. No call. And 5:56 into the second, former Boston College Eagle Zach Sanford raced in on Torey Krug, deep in Boston’s end, and put his shoulder up at Krug’s head. Sanford made no attempt to play the puck, but instead went right for Krug’s head. Again, no call.
There is a chance, though minimal, that the Department of Player Safety will want to hear from both Barbashev and Sanford on Friday or Saturday.
The Department should sit down Bozak for the blatant, dangerous slew foot.
“Those are the hits they want to get out of the game, right?” said Cassidy. “That’’s what I hear a lot about. Clearly they missed a couple tonight.”
■ Any explanation from the officiating crew?
“I don’t expect an explanation for a non-call,” said Cassidy, who also labeled the missed call egregious. “And I get that. They want to keep the game moving.”
NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkom did comment to a pool reporter: “We don’t make comments on judgment calls within games. There are hundreds of judgment calls in every game. The official on the play, he viewed it and he didn’t view it as a penalty at the time.”
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.