NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tim Peel’s career as an NHL referee is over after his voice was picked up by a TV microphone saying he wanted to call a penalty against the Nashville Predators.

The league on Wednesday announced that Peel “no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future.” The 54-year-old Peel had already made plans to retire next month.

“Tim Peel’s conduct is in direct contraction to the adherence to that cornerstone principle that we demand from our officials and that of our fans, players coaches and all those associated with our game expect and deserve,” NHL vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said in a statement. “There is no justification for his comments no matter the context or intension.”

The NHL determined it was Peel’s voice that was heard on the TV broadcast of the Predators home game against the Detroit Red Wings after Nashville forward Viktor Arvidsson was issued a minor tripping penalty five minutes into the second period.

“It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a (expletive) penalty against Nashville early in the,” the unidentified official was heard saying before the microphone was cut. Peel worked the game with referee Kelly Sutherland.

The Predators won 2-0 and were called for four penalties, compared with the Red Wings’ three.

Predators Coach John Hynes said after the game that it didn’t matter how he felt about what the official said. “But the referees are employees of the league and rather than me comment on it, it’s an issue that I think the league will have to take care of,” Hynes said.

OBIT: Former St. Louis Blues defenseman Bob Plager was killed in a car crash in St. Louis. He was 78.

Police said Plager was alone in his vehicle when it collided with a vehicle carrying two women on Interstate 64 in St. Louis about 1:30 p.m. One of the women sustained minor injuries. No other details were released.

Plager was an original Blue, moving over from the New York Rangers when the NHL expanded in 1967-68. He played 11 seasons for St. Louis – teaming for a stretch with brothers Barclay and Bill – and later worked for the organization in a variety of roles. He coached the team for 11 games in 1992.

The Blues retired his No. 5 jersey in 2017, and it joined brother Barclay’s No. 8 in the rafters.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

SENATORS 3, FLAMES 1: Rookie Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves, Chris Tierney broke a third-period tie and Ottawa beat visiting Calgary.

Rookie Josh Norris tied it with at 4:48 of the third with his third goal in four games, Tierney gave Ottawa the lead with 7:59 left, and Nikita Zaitsev added an empty-netter.

Mark Giordano scored for Calgary, and Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves.

WILD 3, DUCKS 2: Jared Spurgeon had two goals, and Nico Sturm scored the tie-breaker as Minnesota won at home.

Cam Talbot made 28 saves for the Wild, who extended a franchise record with their 10th straight home win. Ryan Suter had two assists for Minnesota, becoming the fifth active NHL defenseman to reach 600 career points.

Derek Grant and Max Comtois scored for the Ducks, who have lost 7 of 8. Ryan Miller made 23 saves in his sixth straight start with John Gibson out for his fifth game with a lower-body injury.

PENGUINS 5, SABRES 2: Sidney Crosby picked up his 13th goal of the season, Tristan Jarry stopped 26 shots and host Pittsburgh extended Buffalo’s losing streak to 15.

Evan Rodrigues, Kris Letang, John Marino and Zach Aston-Reese scored also for the Penguins, who recovered from a sluggish three-game set against New Jersey in which they managed just one victory by pouncing on the undermanned and overmatched Sabres.

Buffalo goalie Dustin Tokarski, making his first NHL start in more than five years with Carter Hutton out due to a lower-body injury, finished with 37 saves and kept the Sabres in it until late in the second period, when Marino and Aston-Reese scored just over 2 minutes apart to give the Penguins all the cushion required.

Rasmus Dahlin scored his second goal of the season and Victor Olofsson beat Jarry on a penalty shot in the third period.

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