BOSTON — The Boston Bruins disagreed with the officials’ decision on a failed coach’s challenge for goalie interference, one that let the game-tying goal stand in their Game 4 loss to the Florida Panthers on Sunday night.
The Panthers, down 2-0 in the opening period, went on to win the game 3-2, scoring twice in the third to take a 3-1 series lead.
At 3:41 of the third period, Florida’s Sam Bennett scored to tie the game at 2. The goal was immediately challenged by the Boston bench. Replays showed Bennett had cross-checked Bruins forward Charlie Coyle onto goalie Jeremy Swayman before scoring into an open net.
The on-ice officials reviewed the call and determined “there was no goaltender interference on the play.” The official ruling from the NHL Situation Room was that “video review supported the referees’ call on the ice that the shove by Florida’s Sam Bennett on Charlie Coyle and the subsequent contact with Jeremy Swayman did not prevent Swayman from playing his position in the crease prior to Bennett’s goal.”
Boston was given a minor penalty for delay of game because of the failed challenge. The Bruins killed that off, but Aleksander Barkov’s goal at 7:31 of the third period ended up winning it for the Panthers
Rule 69.1 of the NHL rulebook states that: “If a defending player has been pushed, shoved, or fouled by an attacking player so as to cause the defending player to come into contact with his own goalkeeper, such contact shall be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player for purposes of this rule, and if necessary a penalty assessed to the attacking player and if a goal is scored it would be disallowed.”
Based on that criteria, Coyle and Swayman strongly disagreed with the officials’ decision not to overturn the Bennett goal.
