Given the overwhelming evidence, another official doesn’t like Auger’s chances of surviving this without a serious reprimand and suspension.
"You don’t even have to be a ref to figure it out," he said. "Don’t leave the gun at the scene with your fingerprints all over it."
One official admits that, when a referee gets burned by a certain player, he is happy to hand out a penalty or two to the offender some time down the road. But not at the expense of the game.
"You file it away in the back of your cranium," he said. "But you wait until you get a game where the score is 5-1, and then you might call him for something. You say, ‘We’ll meet up again one day.’ But you don’t hurt the team."
"Look, we’re all human," said a referee Tuesday. "Like players, we make a mistake. I’ve had game misconducts turned over (at the league level). You just have to admit that it didn’t happen the way you thought. Or you didn’t see it the way it happened."
If there is a debt to be paid, should you wait until a 5-1 game?
"That’s an unfair question," said former referee Mark Faucette, an NHL zebra from 1985-2003 who ref’ed nearly 1,000 games. "If I ever get myself in a position where I should be getting this guy back, I shouldn’t be doing the job. I always say, if I got paid for all the ones I missed, I’d be a richer man today.
"You can’t have a guilt complex (for missed calls in the past). It will multiply and magnify your problems, as it is doing right now for Mr. Auger."