It wouldn’t be right if the NHL didn’t have another questionable case of goaltender interference on their hands that. Well, actually it would be, but you catch what we're saying here.
During Saturday night’s primetime tilt between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins, the game-winning goal scored by Ron Hainsey was filed under the “consistently inconsistent” section of controversy.
It’s quite clear that Leafs forward Zach Hyman pushed Charlie McAvoy into Tuukka Rask, forcing the Bruins goaltender to fall out of position. The question becomes if Rask had enough time to get back into position, but according to Rask himself, he still felt like he was compromised of making the save.
As you could see, Rask was interfered to his right, with the point shot coming from the right side from Ron Hainsey, meaning Rask had to take the time push across his crease to gain proper position. Most goaltenders like to reset themselves by going back to the middle blue paint to gain a depth of feel, and then attack out to their new angle. Because Rask was bumped, he didn’t have the luxury of resetting his angle and approach, and while we’ll never know for sure, it seems more than likely that the potential Vezina candidate is stopping that shot.
Amongst goaltenders with a minimum of 1000 games played, Rask ranks sixth in low danger save percentage, according to Corsica.Hockey. Low-danger shots are considered to be from the outside and just inside the blueline, which is exactly where Hainsey stood when he fired the shot off.
So, what do you think? Should the goal have counted? Does anyone yet have a clue what goaltender interfernece is? Charlie McAvoy doesn't.
The Leafs won the game 4-3 to and matched their franchise record for most wins in a row at home.
Here's the footage and the NHL's explanation of the goal that the Bruins challenged for goaltender interference, and obviously lost.
