Stanley Cup Playoffs Marred By Inconsistent Goaltender Interference Calls

Through the first week of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, one thing is clearly evident, the NHL and its officials have no idea what goaltender inference is. That is a big problem as the games are under more scrutiny now than ever before with every game on national television and the institution of social media.

But that does not excuse the fact, that the officials on the ice and off the ice from getting these calls right. In the past week, there have been four goaltender interference calls that stand out and numerous others that clearly contradict the rulebook of the NHL. And the biggest issue for the NHL right now is calling goaltender interference consistently.

NHL Has a Goaltender Interference Problem

Replay is there for a reason. To get the call right. But even with replay, it seems the NHL and its officials get the calls wrong based on their own set of rules. Give these guys some help.

The days of the NHL living in the grey area when it comes to video review are over. The genie is out of the bottle. With the improvements in television quality and slow-motion replays, fans can see what those in the war room in Toronto see and everyone is coming out with two different outcomes.

The NHL is not the only sport that has gone through an issue of this magnitude. The NFL had a similar problem with pass interference. After that egregious call in the NFC Championship Game with the Saints and Rams, the rule was finally changed and you could challenge it. Not to mention the NFL for years did not know what a catch was for the longest time. They finally got those somewhat under control.

Goalie Interference Hurting the Stanley Cup Playoffs

But from game to game and series to series, the goaltender interference call has been called different.

Let’s begin with the one everyone was talking about back in Game 1 between the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

In a tight 3-3 game late in the third period, Kaapo Kakko makes a power move towards the crease and makes contact with Casey DeSmith. From there he is able to get the puck to Filip Chytil for the goal. Everyone thought the Rangers had taken a 4-3 lead, however, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan challenged the play. And any coach in that situation would have. This was a 50/50 play. And the call on the ice was a goal. So there had to be conclusive video evidence to overturn the goal. Though the call was overturned, the evidence is not so clear, especially with Brian Doumilin cutting off Kakko’s path and moving him into DeSmith.

The NHL said that Doumilin did not affect the outcome and he did not make contact with Kakko before Kakko made contact with the goalie. Therefore, there was no goal. But this was a similar play against the New Jersey Devils, when Kakko drove the net the same way, his elbow made contact with Mackenzie Blackwood’s head and he scored. Many thought Lindy Ruff should have challenged the goal. Citing, he did not think there was enough evidence to overturn the call on the ice.

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And if we go by the NHL rulebook then both goals should not have counted. Whether incidental contact or not, any contact with the goaltender impeded him from playing their position, and the goal should not stand. Regardless of whether the puck goes in the net first or not.

As we look around the rest of the playoffs, the Rangers series is not the only series that has controversy surrounding goaltender interference.

Jake Debrusk finds the puck and the back of the net 🙌 pic.twitter.com/DLZeYQLEMo

— NESN (@NESN) May 8, 2022

In Game 4 of the Boston-Carolina, head coach Rod Brind’Amour was not happy. He thought Jake DeBrusk’s goal should not have counted. He said as much in the post-game press conference.

“I would have bet my life on that one,” said Brind’Amour, after making an unsuccessful goalie-interference challenge on a second-period DeBrusk power-play goal. 

It is clear DeBrusk jams his stick under Antti Raanta’s pad and gets the puck free. From there DeBrusk is able to get the puck into the net amidst a goalmouth scramble. Like Brind’Amour, most people watching thought it was coming back. But the NHL upheld the goal explaining that incidental contact was ok. Except according to the rulebook that has to happen outside of the blue paint.

From Rule 69.1 “Incidental contact with a goalkeeper will be permitted, and resulting goals allowed, when such contact is initiated outside of the goal crease, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact.” 

According to the rule, the goal should not have been counted. As a similar play happened to Nino Niederreiter earlier in the series and it was disallowed. This changed the direction of the game. Instead of no goal, the Hurricanes were given another penalty. From there Carolina took another penalty. Then the Bruins scored on the associated 5-on-3.

As we see in this goal by Trevor Lewis. Before the goal, Milan Lucic makes contact with Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger. The contact was outside of the blue paint. Lucic does his best to get out of the way of Oettinger. So the officials got this one right.

But in Nashville, there was a little bit of a controversy. Just as the Predators tied the game at 3-3 with the Avalanche, Gabriel Landeskog moves the puck down the ice. Artturi Lekhonen drives the net hard. As you can Predators forward Mikael Granlund makes contact with Lekhonen forcing him into Connor Ingram. As the NHL stated after the game, Granlund’s action caused Lehkonen to contact Ingram prior to Landeskog’s goal.

But according to former NHL referee Don Koharski, who is now a member of the TNT hockey crew as a rules analyst, this goal should not have counted based on goalie interference.

“(Lekhonen) has every opportunity to try to avoid this goaltender,” Koharski said. “I’m going to tell you this is going to be turned over and there is going to be a power play here. I’d be shocked if they don’t.”

Well, he was shocked. And so were the Predators. It was a bad look for the NHL to have a former official on National Television said the goal should not have counted based on the rules that are put in place. Not to mention, he enforced these rules as a referee in the NHL in over 1,900 games. So he knows what he is talking about.

Current referees, former referees, current players, and former players have no idea what goaltender interference is. This is an issue for the league as it will cost a team a series if not the Stanley Cup.

The First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs has shown why goaltender interference is a big issue for the NHL.

The NHL has to get more consistent on the calling of goaltender interference and JUST GET IT RIGHT!!!!