Yeah, I was just looking through the NHL rulebook. I think they fudged up the process a bit on the Vilardi play but ended up getting the call right.
Linesmen can stop the play if they see a high stick cause injury (double minor) but I seem to recall them letting the play go on until a whistle, at which point the refs huddled and called the major so they could review it. They should have just called the double minor off the get go
My suspicion is that nobody actually saw it so they called the major just to look at what they missed. I don't think it's a conspiracy, but they should have done the same thing in the Edmonton game but didn't. Inconsistencies like that are what lead to the conspiracy thoughts