The Stars Are Perfect No Longer

 

Photo From Globe and Mail

I’m going to start this article off by saying if you’re new to watching the NHL and are wondering what goaltender interference I is can sum it up by answering with…it’s a coin flip because whenever we see a collision with a goalie it seems to change depending on how the referee is feeling in the moment. There was a goal by the Stars that was originally waved off before the call was overturned. Before I discuss that referees decision any further let me bring you up to speed on everything else that went on last night.

Coming off a frustrating Monday night that saw the Leafs lose to the Arizona Coyotes sending the fanbase into a full-blown meltdown demanding for Sheldon Keefe to be fired which I personally found laughable, the Leafs were back in action in their fourth and final game of this early homestand hosting the unbeaten Dallas Stars. Ilya Samsonov would return to the net for the Leafs after getting Monday off and for Dallas they would start Scott Wedgewood. Last night fans got to see the regular season debut for both Victor Mete and for Nick Robertson. The first period of this game was very uneventful until the final five minutes of period one. The Dallas Stars would enter the Leafs zone and Radek Faksa would send the puck around the boards where the puck would be met by Nils Lundkvist. He would send a shot on goal from the wall that Samsonov would stop but the rebound would go out front to Luke Glendening and he would put Dallas on the board 1-0 and for the fifth straight game Toronto would have to come from behind in the game. Toronto would search for a response, but the first intermission would arrive, and the Leafs would still be trailing.

Period two would kick off with an early Leafs powerplay as Miro Heiskanen would be called for tripping and the Leafs would get right to work on the man advantage. The Leafs would have their second powerplay unit on the ice as they would work the puck back to Rasmus Sandin. He would see his point shot stopped by Wedgewood, but the rebound would be sent into the roof of the net by Alex Kerfoot for his first goal of the season leveling this game at ones. After tying the game, we would see Toronto’s offense step on the gas and begin to control the play piling up chance after chance, but goalie Scott Wedgewood would do a great job preventing the Leafs from taking the lead as he made many big saves for the Dallas Stars. Despite the Leafs outshooting their opponents 17-6 in the second period the score would remain level after forty minutes of play.

The third period would begin, and Toronto’s momentum would carry over and it wouldn’t take long for the fans in attendance to rise to their feet in celebration. The Leafs would be cycling the puck around the Dallas end and Nylander would send the puck around to Michael Bunting. Bunting would send a perfect backhand pass into the middle of the ice where Nick Robertson would beat Wedgewood on the blocker side for his first goal of the season giving the Leafs the 2-1 lead just two minutes into the period. With Toronto now leading they would continue to press for offense but just five minutes later we would be witness to some controversy. With Alex Kerfoot serving a puck over glass minor the Leafs would be on the penalty kill. Dallas would enter the zone and Mason Marchment would send the puck towards goal and Tyler Seguin would be credited with the goal for his 2^nd of the season tying the game at 2-2. Now here’s where the controversy comes into play. Mitch Marner is trying to keep Seguin from getting to the lose puck which Tyler is allowed to go for but when the replay is shown you clearly see Seguin push Mitch Marner into Samsonov giving Ilya absolutely no chance to make the save. The goal was waved off instantly because of goalie interference but Dallas chose to challenge the decision and I’m sure when everyone first saw the replay, we all thought the call would stand and it would be no goal, but as the review took longer and longer doubt began to set in and sure enough the decision was overturned, and the goal would count.

I know the chances are extremely slim but if anyone in the NHL’s Situation Room happen to see this article please come out and tell the fans that you honestly have no idea what goaltender interference really is because if you did it would be the first honest thing the league has told the fans. If the NHL wants to know why they slot in behind the NFL and NBA in popularity it is because of brain dead decisions like this. Your fans that have continued to watch after multiple lockouts and other attempts to “make the league better” if you surveyed the fans, I’d bet majority of them wouldn’t understand the rules of the game because it is a coin flip every time. To fix the goalie interference confusion it’s very simple. Switch to the international rule where if the players skate touches any part of the opponents crease then any of the four officials on the ice can blow the play dead. Now, I understand I don’t have a law degree like Gary Bettman or Bill Daily, but I do have common sense and can find easy solutions every once in a while and I also understand that the NHL won’t make any changes until something drastic happens, so maybe if Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy is victim of a collision with a player and suffers a season ending injury maybe then the NHL will open their eyes and make a necessary change.

 

So, with the game tied thanks to Tyler Seguin I was concerned that the Leafs would have frustration boil over and Dallas would begin to take the game over, but the Leafs showed a great level of character by sticking to their plan and getting back to work because there was still plenty of time to regain the lead. Toronto would see their powerplay receive a number of opportunities in this third period but were unable to find the back of the net. I saw plenty of criticism. I have said this many times before, but I will say this again, fans need to understand that of course teams want to score on every powerplay but that just isn’t in the cards but if a team can build momentum with zone time and offensive pressure the hope is that it can carry over to even strength play. Yes, a powerplay going 1-8 looks bad on paper but most of those Leaf powerplays were abbreviated so again let’s take a deep breath and not over analyse every single detail.

Late in regulation the Leafs would head to the powerplay as Luke Glendenning would be called for interference resulting in a scary collision with the boards and Mark Giordano, thankfully Giordano was able to get up on his own power and finish the game and as of this write up there hasn’t been an update on Mark but hopefully with Friday being an off day maybe a day of rest would be just what the doctor ordered for him.

The Leaf powerplay would carry into the overtime session as regulation would expire with the game still tied at two. In the overtime we would see both teams trade chances searching for a winner but thanks to strong play from both Wedgewood and Samsonov in goal the overtime would continue. Late in the overtime session the Stars would head in on a 2 on 1 with Nick Robertson back defending and Jamie Benn leading the attack. While many fans were probably thinking the worst was about to happen Nick Robertson would make a great defensive play breaking up the odd man rush allowing the trio of Rielly, Robertson, and Matthews to begin their counterattack. Morgan Rielly would lead the way before sending the puck to Robertson. Nick and Auston would work a give and go play and with everyone in the building thinking Auston Matthews was about to shoot he would see Wedgewood preparing for the attempt, instead Matthews would send the puck back to Nick Robertson who would beat the goalie on the glove side winning the game for the Maple Leafs handing Dallas their first loss of the season by a score of 3-2. During the celebration the cameras focused on Nick’s mom who was in the crowd wearing a Leaf jersey and a Dallas Stars hat as she got to watch her sons Nick and Jason play for their respective teams. Before I forget on the overtime winner a milestone was reached as Auston Matthews collected his 200^th career assist.

I know Leaf fans were crying foul because Nick Robertson didn’t make the teams opening night roster and after last night’s solid performance, I know the fanbase is flying high right now, but we all need to take a step back and remember that it is just one game. Robertson is going to be a very good player in this league, but we can’t think that he is going to just go and light up the NHL from here on out after just one game. He will have nights where he struggles and we know those nights are going to happen because they happen to every player, we as fans just need to remain patient with him when the struggles do happen. Again, I am very happy with Robertson’s game last night, but this team is still a work in progress but when players start becoming healthy and coming off Long Term Injury Reserve, please don’t lose your minds if he is sent down because it is simply done because he is waiver exempt meaning the Leafs can send him down or call him up without any risk of losing him on Waivers.

Before I finish this one up, I have to talk about some unfortunate news. Back in the summer the wife of Leaf legend Borje Salming announced that he was diagnosed with ALS and that they were going to do all they could while Borje began his fight. Well, in an update provided earlier this week the family announced that Borje had lost his ability to speak. Seeing someone go through this is heartbreaking honestly because Borje was someone who was always known to be in phenomenal shape and always seemed to have a clean bill of health. I know I said it in my article in the summer when the news first broke but Borje the entire hockey world is thinking of you and hoping for a miracle.

The Maple Leafs are back in action Saturday night as they are on the road for the next five games beginning with a matchup in Winnipeg against the Jets, thanks as always for reading.