Jared Bednar's frustration with goaltender interference reached boiling point after lengthy struggles went against the team Colorado Avalanche in their game against New York Islanders on Thursday.
Kyle McLean scored just over five minutes into the first period after he recovered the puck from a chaotic scrum in front of the net and fired it wide. Mackenzie Blackwood.
Bednar immediately called goaltender interference as replay showed Islanders Mark Gatcomb's stick stuck in Blackwood's pads. McLean reached for the puck and appeared to push Blackwood's right pad as he looked for it.
However, after a lengthy review, the goal stood and the Avalanche were assessed a minor penalty for delay of game, much to Bednar's disapproval.
“Goalie interference is a joke. If that isn't goalie interference, I don't know what is,” Bednar told reporters after the game. “You can’t just move the goalie pads to the side and lose the puck.”
“I get it all wrong when I look at the problems in the league, so I'm a little crazy. I'm not going to challenge until it's obvious. But it was obvious to me.”
Blackwood believed he would have had no opportunity to make the save given all the chaos in front of goal and being pushed back.
“The puck hit me high and fell into the triangle between your pads,” Blackwood said Denver Post after the game. “He was rolling backwards so I had to turn around or he would have gone through me and the other guy crashing would have hit him. I turned around and then everything turned into chaos.
“I was pushed forward, backward, sideways. I was just… I don't know.”
NHL posted an explanation after being challenged by Bednar, who stated that the on-ice goal was upheld because the players were going after the puck and that Blackwood did not choke it.
“Video review confirmed the opinion of the on-ice officials that accidental contact with Colorado goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood occurred while New York players were playing with a loose puck,” the statement said. Therefore, it was not goalkeeper interference.”
The league referred to Rule 69.7, which states: “In a rebound situation or when the goaltender and attacking player(s) are simultaneously attempting to play the puck, inside or outside the crease, incidental contact with the goaltender will be allowed and any goal scored as a result will be allowed.”
Colorado lost 6–3, and Blackwood lost his first game in regulation this season. The Avalanche goaltender is off to a great start with a 6-1-1 record, 2.28 goals per game and a .920 save percentage in eight games this season.
