He probably shouldn't have moved his stick into Garland's then. He caused the issue with Garland outside of the crease.
He was outside of the crease. It was Askarov moving his stick into Garland's which caused the contact. It was pretty clear on the replay.
I dunno. On the replays I saw (Sharks broadcast) Garland’s leg was in the crease. If that’s the case, it doesn’t matter who initiated contact.
But, if they thought the majority of the contact started outside the crease, then maybe that’s the reasoning.
In any event, I like that they that let that stand. They’ve just been extremely tight calling it on everything this season. I wish they would let more stand.