Goaltender interference has become the NHL equivalent of an NFL catch.
I say this only because I am now confident in telling you that I have legitimately no clue how the hell the powers that be are going to rule such a happening when challenged.
The good (I guess?) news: neither do the players paid to play the game!
Deadlocked in a 3-3 tie with less than a minute and a half remaining in the third period, Zach Hyman clearly pushed Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy into Tuukka Rask. The spill took Rask out of the play for a moment, and by the time he successfully laterally pushed off his right post to defend the vacated left side of his cage, Ron Hainsey's shot from the point was already well into the B's net.
Hainsey scores from the point, but it might get called back for goalie interference. pic.twitter.com/0axTSUULSy
— Flintor (@TheFlintor) February 25, 2018Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy challenged the call, and after a lengthy review and countless replays that told you legitimately nothing (well, your eyes told you, but I think we've all learned that that means nothing), the call stood.
Because of course.
"I don't know what goaltender interference is anymore," a frustrated McAvoy, finishing with four hits and five blocked shots in 23:11 of play, said after the loss. "I'm not alone."
Rask, who made 32 stops in the losing effort, was pretty blunt when talking about it, by all means saying that he doesn't want to see games ended by 'shitty goals' like that. He was also confident that he stops that shot if he's not interfered with, noting that he had been seeing pucks for 59 minutes prior to the Hainsey, insinuating that it's a nothing shot if he's physically able to get to the other side of his crease without an obstruction.
Boston's frustration comes just a week after Edmonton's Cam Talbot went on a profanity-laced tirade against the inconsistencies of the league's goaltender interference rulings, and with these issues obviously hitting a league-wide boiling point.
Worst of all, this robbed us of a truly satisfying finish to what was another stellar head-to-head meeting between the B's and Leafs, with the teams trading goals and chances for the full 60. But fortunately for the sake of our entertainment, these teams seemed primed for a first or second-round head-to-head sometime this spring.
The Big Bad Blog is presented by:
