Yeah, that's a horrible call at any time, and especially in overtime.
The NHL needs to figure this out. I don't how many times (as I follow Edmonton) I"ve seen McDavid get an arm around him behind the goal or in the corner and be pulled down or interfered with and it's NOT a penalty 95% of the time. Then, you see one like that where the backchecking player slightly breathes on the guy, and it's a penalty...
There's of course a degree of subjectivity to it and mistakes are going to happen regardless, but the one thing the NHL needs to communicate and enforce with officials is: DO NOT 'GUESS' THAT YOU SAW SOMETHING UNLESS YOU'RE 100% SURE.
We've all seen this: The ref, sometimes at the opposite end of the ice, raises his arm and calls hooking or whatever from 100 feet away. The replays show the player did not hook and in fact didn't even touch the opposing player. I mean, I've seen these "invented" calls decide playoff games. The refs need to understand that even if they THINK they saw something, unless they're certain in the moment, they cannot call it.
I think that would help. Maybe some kind of salary deterrent, also, in cases where they call something from far away and the replay shows they imagined it.
On a separate note, I also think NHL refereeing standards could be improved by bringing in non-hockey fans -- fans of soccer, football, basketball, whatever. People who know sports but aren't hockey fans. My theory is: If you can't explain the existing system to them in a way that makes sense to them, it probably sucks.
Case in point -- Try to explain this to a Premier-League soccer fan:
If you hold your lumber with two hands and whack a guy over the back with it in front of the net, it's okay 80% of the time. However, if a player is skating past a defender and the defender's stick slightly contacts the attacking players pants for 1/1000 of a second without impeding his progress, it's an automatic penalty.
A fan of any other sport would conclude this is idiotic. And they'd be right.