It is said that there are two sure things in life: death and taxes. Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour would have added getting a goal overturned in Sunday’s game against the Boston Bruins as another lock.
He would have been wrong.
“I would have bet my life on that one,” said Brind’Amour, after making an unsuccessful goalie-interference challenge on a second-period power-play goal by Boston’s Jake DeBrusk.
On the play, Boston’s Brad Marchand throws the puck toward the net from the corner, where it hits Carolina goalie Antti Raanta, who loses track of it. DeBrusk then comes from the side and jams toward the puck, but appears to catch the goalie’s left pad, which opens up his legs and exposes the puck. Eventually, DeBrusk is able to sweep it in amidst the ensuing scramble.
“It’s clearly — especially the view that we saw after — [the puck] is in between his pads, loose. And I’m all good with that,” Brind’Amour told reporters after the game, a 5-2 loss for his team. “But the guy came from the side, pushes his pads, squirts the puck out, taps it in. It’s a little different if the guy had come in from the front and was actually playing the puck. You can’t play the puck when it’s in between his legs from the side and knock the goalie sideways.”
The NHL explained that the incidental contact was allowable.
The play was costly in more ways than one for Carolina. The goal, which tied the game 2-2, stood and Brind’Amour’s unsuccessful challenge then put the Bruins back on the power play. That became a 5-on-3 man-advantage when Sebastian Aho was given a double-minor for high-sticking Boston’s Patrice Bergeron in the slot. Marchand eventually scored during the extended power play, giving the Bruins the lead.
“It’s tough, it’s tough,” Brind’Amour said, whose team is now tied 2-2 in the first-round playoff series. “They’re too good a team to just give ’em goals. We have no chance if we’re gonna get that happen.”
