Edmonton Oilers coach Craig MacTavish was fined $10,000 US Saturday by the NHL for criticizing referee Mick McGeough for a blown call in the Oilers' 3-2 home loss to the Dallas Stars on Friday night.

"The NHL acknowledges the fact that referee Mick McGeough made the wrong call on a play late in the game, which he later admitted to the media following the game," director of hockey operations Colin Campbell said in a release.

Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said he was baffled by referee Mick McGeough's "ridiculous" call on Friday night.
(Getty Images)

"While the NHL regrets the missed call, Craig MacTavish's comments after the game regarding the call were totally inappropriate and crossed the line."

McGeough waved off what would have been a game-tying goal by the Oilers' Ales Hemsky with 4.1 seconds left. The referee blew his whistle just before Hemsky put the puck in the net after deciding Edmonton centre Shawn Horcoff had made a glove pass off the preceding faceoff. Replays, though, showed no such infraction.

Speaking to reporters after the game, MacTavish lambasted McGeough for the call and for delivering it in the referee's familiar animated fashion.

"It was a retarded call," MacTavish snapped. "There is no other explanation for it. I know he is a veteran official and at times I have found his antics humorous. But if this is the product of that, there is a problem.

"It was a ridiculous call. I had no idea what he had called. Nobody saw the hand pass on the play because quite clearly there wasn't one. It's beyond reason.

"He should be suspended."

McGeough's ruling also inflamed the Edmonton crowd, which littered the ice with debris, some directed at the officiating crew as it headed for its dressing room.

Atlanta Thrashers coach Bob Hartley was also fined $10,000 US by the NHL on Saturday for verbally abusing the officials at the end of the Thrashers' 4-3 win over Washington on Friday night.

With files from the Canadian Press