Things got heated Friday night between the New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens after Karl Stollery hit Nathan Beaulieu with a check that sent the Habs defenceman crashing into the boards.

Stollery was given a five-minute major for boarding (Montreal’s Torrey Mitchell got two minutes for roughing), and the Habs scored twice on the ensuing power play to pull ahead 3-1 — which ended up being the final score.

On Saturday, Devils head coach John Hynes was asked about the incident and he said he had received a call from NHL referee-in-chief Stephen Walkom, who said it should have been a two-minute minor.

“I got a call from the referee-in-chief today. They reviewed that call last night. He said it wasn’t the right call,” Hynes said. “They sent video clips to the referees to go over that. I respect that by the referee-in-chief. Like anyone, they are trying to work to get better. It was a mistake by the referee. It’s live action…

“At least there’s clarification to our players of what is and what isn’t (a penalty) and what should’ve been called. That’s much appreciated and professional.”

Had the in-game referees called a two-minute minor there would have been offsetting penalties on the play and the Devils never would have gone shorthanded.