Fans irate at 'atrocious' Matthew Tkachuk embellishment call despite Jordan Staal hooking penalty: "NHL refs some of the dumbest people on the planet"

Fan outrage exploded on social media following Matthew Tkachuk’s embellishment call during the Florida Panthers-Carolina Hurricanes Game 4 clash on Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena.

The play took place during the second period, following a hooking penalty by the Hurricanes' Jordan Staal.

Here’s a look at the incident:

While Staal got the gate for hooking, Matthew Tkachuk received an embellishment call for his antics as he hit the ice.

But fans weren’t convinced that was the right call. Here’s a look at what these fans had to say:

“NHL refs have to be some of the dumbest people on the planet,” one fan chimed in.

“Atrocious,” this fan weighed in.

“Horrendous embellishment call, HORRENDOUS,” another fan opined.

Meanwhile, other fans took to X to give the officials the benefit of the doubt in this call. Let’s look at their comments:

“That isn’t embellishing but he’s been flopping a lot. I don’t like the makeup call tho,” a fan wrote.

“If that wasn’t the Panthers and Tkachuk, it wouldn’t have been called LOL,” this fan posted.

“Tkachuk has embellished for sure but that probably was one of the weaker ones,” another fan remarked.

Matthew Tkachuk and the Panthers are looking to finish off the series against the Hurricanes and return to the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive postseason.

Matthew Tkachuk’s mistake costs Florida Panthers chance to tie game

Matthew Tkachuk and the Panthers entered the third period of Game 4 down 1-0 and looking to tie the game.

As the Panthers pushed to get the equalizer, coach Paul Maurice pulled Sergei Bobrovsky with about three minutes to go in the period. While the Cats were pressing, a critical mistake led to an empty-net goal by Sebastian Aho.

Here’s a look at the play:

The replay showed how Matthew Tkachuk misplayed the puck, allowing Seth Jarvis to strip Tkachuk of the puck and lead a 3-0 rush back the other way. Sebastian Aho buried the puck in the wide-open cage to give the Canes a 2-0 lead.

Had Tkachuk handled the puck properly, the empty-netter could have been avoided. As a result, the Panthers could have had a chance to tie the game.

But the reality is that Tkachuk committed the brutal giveaway leading to the Hurricanes’ insurance goal. Carolina would add one more to dash the Panthers’ hopes of ending the series in Game 4.

Now, the Panthers will need to regroup and focus on taking out the Hurricanes in Game 5 back in Carolina on Wednesday night.