NHL referees, LA Kings ripped after Quinton Byfield's controversial goal save attempt: "Typical cheating Kings", "Refs are incompetent"

NHL fans on social media reacted to a controversial goal save by LA Kings forward Quinton Byfield during Game 5 against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

The Oilers continued their winning momentum, decuring a 3-1 victory and taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Round 1 series. A pivotal moment in the first period sparked widespread discussion post-game.

As Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper and his teammates worked to protect the net amidst heavy traffic, Byfield fell to the ice and appeared to use his hand to prevent the puck from crossing the goal line.

Here's a video of the play:

Many labeled the play an illegal save, with some arguing that Byfield's use of his hand warranted a penalty shot. Fans took to X (Twitter) with criticism directed at referees and the Kings for the controversial save.

One tweeted:

"Typical cheating kings."

Another chimed in:

"Refs have Kings in the bag for the win. Will be bad if Oilers doesn’t score another goal."

Here are some of the other top reactions on X:

"Refs are incompetent," a third fan posted."

"That’s allowed for American teams," another fan wrote.

"The rule book is subjective period to period and game to game in this series. Terrible for both teams at different points in the series," one X user opined.

"Frame by frame he dives right at it and shovels it out I think heat of the moment refs didn’t want to call it “for playoff purposes” as in “let the teams play” but I think in a regular season game that would have been spotted and called," another chimed in.

Edmonton Oilers take 3-2 series lead against the LA Kings

On Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers took a 3-2 series lead after defeating the LA Kings 3-1 in Game 5 at Crypto.com Arena. The Kings and Oilers are facing each other for the fourth straight year in the first round of the playoffs.

Andrei Kuzmenko opened the scoring for the LA Kings after giving them a 1-0 lead on the power play at 3:33 into the second period. Six minutes later, Evander Kane tied it for the Oilers before heading into the final period.

Mattias Janmark increased the Oilers' lead to 2-1 after scoring at 7:12 into the third period. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the winner on the empty net at 19:02 to win Game 5 for the Oilers.

Game 6 returns to Rogers Place on Thursday.