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The Vegas Golden Knights' defense of their 2018 Western Conference title ended in disappointment Tuesday, and Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault believes the officials are to blame.

With Vegas leading the San Jose Sharks 3-0 during the third period of Game 7 of their first-round playoff series, Cody Eakin was called for a five-minute cross-checking major after contacting Sharks star Joe Pavelski, who then hit the ice and began bleeding:

That spurred a massive comeback for San Jose, who scored four consecutive power-play goals over the next four minutes and one second to take a 4-3 lead.

According to ESPN.com's Greg Wyshynski, Marchessault said the decision "stole" the win from the Golden Knights, and the 28-year-old added:

"It's a f--king joke. To call five minutes for that? It changed the whole outcome of the game. Like, seriously, what is that? It's so disappointing. The game's not even close. It's 3-0. Call a [two-minute minor]? OK. But a five? For something you don't even see? You just call the outcome. It's a f--king joke. It's embarrassing. That's what it is."

Marchessault did manage to tie it with 47 seconds remaining in regulation, but an overtime goal by Barclay Goodrow sent the Sharks to the second round and eliminated the Golden Knights from Stanley Cup contention.

No penalty appeared to be called on the play initially, and it wasn't until after officials observed Pavelski bleeding on the ice that the decision was made to levy a five-minute major against Eakin.

Marchessault believed the call was excessive given how often players cross-check each other following a faceoff:

"[Referee Eric] Furlatt said, 'It looks pretty bad.' If it looks pretty bad, then clearly you did not see it. It's a faceoff. It's a push. Probably 50 percent of the faceoffs, players—if they lose—they probably give a small cross-check, right? If you want to call the cross-check, fine, call it. It's a cross-check. But seriously, he falls bad. It's unfortunate. Don't get me wrong: I'm a huge fan of Joe Pavelski. And he went down, and I really hope he's OK and he comes back. But that call changes the whole outcome. It changes the whole future of us and the outcome this year. It's a joke. I would be embarrassed if I was them."

There didn't appear to be malice behind Eakin's check, which sent Pavelski tumbling into Golden Knights forward Paul Stastny before he hit the ice.

Calling a major penalty is at the discretion of the officials, but Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant suggested after the game that they didn't actually see what happened on the play:

"They said he cross-checked him across the face, and as we all saw, that didn't happen. There was no high-stick that hit him in the face. When Stastny came out, he fell and banged his head on the ice. That's the unfortunate part of it. It was an awful call. We've all seen it. It's too bad we end up losing because of that because we're in control of the hockey game."

While the five-minute power play gave San Jose life, the fact that it was able to score four times with the man advantage was remarkable given how poorly they performed on the power play during the previous six games of the series, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Vegas shocked the hockey world last season when it advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Final as an expansion team before falling to the Washington Capitals.

It can be argued that the manner in which the Golden Knights were eliminated from the 2019 playoffs was equally shocking, considering they were about 11 minutes away from booking a second-round date with the Colorado Avalanche when the penalty was called against Eakin.

Although the Golden Knights' 2018-19 season ended in disappointment, they remain well-equipped to contend next season with a core that includes forwards Marchessault, Mark Stone, William Karlsson and Max Pacioretty, as well as goalie Marc-Andre Fleury set to return.