There has been a lot of chatter around the league following Friday night’s questionable no-goal call during the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ contest with the New York Rangers.
Joffrey Lupul‘s goal in question at the start of the third period looked clean at first glance, though not according to Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who insisted there was goaltender interference on the play.
A review revealed slight contact and resulted in the goal being called off, despite a challenge from Leafs coach Mike Babcock. But it also sparked bigger-picture questions: what exactly qualifies as goaltender interference, and what can the NHL do to ensure they get every call right?
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that will be something addressed during the upcoming NHL GM meetings in a few weeks. Friedman explained that the new coach’s challenge rule will be discussed, and suggested that the Lupul non-goal (and other similar calls) will be part of that discussion.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you see a poll saying, ‘do you think that this is a goal, or not?'” said Friedman, referencing Friday’s disallowed goal.
It’s interesting to compare Lupul’s play, for example, to Washington Capitals forward Jay Beagle‘s controversial goal against the Florida Panthers Saturday night.
There looked to be more interference than the Maple Leafs’ scenario — yet the goal was allowed.
“The war room in Toronto sees the replays faster than the referees on the ice. I think there’s a sensitivity that you don’t want to have Toronto making all the calls,” he said. “But to speed up the timing [of reviews], I wonder … if we’re going to see a debate at some point that the situation room or the war room should be making those calls.”