Hockey refs got one dead wrong last night, and I'm not letting this one slide.

Florida's Sandis Vilmanis caught Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy with a clear elbow to the head. Textbook dangerous hit. Should've been a major penalty, maybe even a game misconduct.

Instead, the officials somehow gave the Panthers a power play by hitting Boston with roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

Let me say that again, because it's so absurd it barely makes sense: The team that committed the dangerous hit got the advantage.

Folks, this is everything wrong with NHL officiating in one sequence.

Vilmanis got two minutes for an illegal check to the head - which, sure, that's the bare minimum. But then the refs decided to even things out by giving Boston four minutes in penalties for how they reacted to watching their teammate get elbowed in the head.

Look, I get it. Players can't take matters into their own hands. But when you see a dangerous hit like that, emotions run high. And to punish the victim's team more than the perpetrator? That's backwards.

Here's where it gets beautiful, though: The hockey gods had other plans.

Michael Eyssimont stepped out of the penalty box, got the puck on a breakaway, and buried it for a shorthanded goal. Puck don't lie, as they say. The Bruins got the last laugh.

But that doesn't excuse the call. Player safety is supposed to be the NHL's top priority. When you have a clear elbow to the head - the kind of hit that can cause concussions, that can end careers - and the result is a power play for the team that threw it? Something is broken.

The Panthers, to their credit, didn't put Vilmanis back on the ice after the hit. They knew it was bad. Everyone watching knew it was bad. Everyone except the officials, apparently.