Goaltender interference a challenge Leafs coach not ready to take on - Toronto Star

Leafs weren't convinced they could get second-period Utah goal overturned with Bobrovsky outside the blue paint.

The Maple Leafs were convinced Utah’s Barrett Hayton bumped Sergei Bobrovsky on Andrew Peeke’s second-period goal Tuesday night but they weren’t certain the goal would be overturned if they challenged it. 

There was a moment Tuesday night when Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller considered challenging Utah’s second-period goal.

The Leafs had just tied a game they had no business being in when Utah’s Andrew Peeke took a shot from the point that eluded Sergei Bobrovsky. Barrett Hayton had clearly bumped the Maple Leafs netminder while the puck was on its way.

The Utah Mammoth score as Sergei Bobrovsky is clipped. It was been deemed a good goal on the ice. Was this the correct call? #Leafs https://t.co/852F8KHEhY

The TV cameras caught it. The replay was shown at the Scotiabank Arena as referees Garrett Rank and Christopher Schlenker discussed the matter.

“I would have hoped maybe it was a goalie interference call,” Hiller said. “That was my hope. Bobrovsky was in the white (ice) and got wiped right out.”

The call on the ice stood: Good goal.

Now it was up to Hiller to decide whether it was worth a challenge.

“The rule, it’s tricky to interpret,” he said.

He didn’t challenge. The fans let the referees have it. And a short while later, another Utah goal was called back because of goaltender interference, and the fans jeered.

The Leafs’ video coaches, Sam Kim and Jordan Bean, are as good a pair as there is in the league. If they tell the coach a goal was scored on an offside play, they’re right. Leaguewide, about 90 per cent of the time, a goal is overturned on an offside challenge. Goalie interference calls are a different kettle of fish, about 50-50.

When a two-minute minor for interference wasn’t called, a coach’s challenge would not reverse that.

What they can challenge is whether goaltender interference resulted in a goal. Because Bobrovsky was outside the crease, the Leafs believed their chances of winning that challenge were remote.

“We’ve gone through it, we’ve seen a lot of these and because he was in the white, we decided we weren’t going to challenge,” Hiller said. “Our video coaches have a catalogue of all these. They know that one specifically.

“There’s been a lot of controversy about that one, where goalies (skates) are in the blue paint but their bodies are out. It’s a tough one. It’s hard one for everybody, for the guys upstairs, a hard one for us, for our guys to call.”

“I am not in a position to judge another guy’s job,” the goaltender said. “So it is what it is. I just stick to (stopping) the next shot. It’s unfortunate.”

Had the Leafs lost the challenge, they would have taken a delay-of-game penalty and put the NHL’s best power play to work. As things stood, Utah scored twice on the power play in its 3-2 win — Dylan Guenther’s icebreaker late in the first period and Nick Schmaltz’s deciding goal in the third. 

The Leafs ended up wasting one of Bobrovsky’s best performances of the season at a time when his netminding is the source of a great deal of scrutiny. He faces the media more than he ever did in Florida, sometimes reluctantly, though he has no regrets about signing here.

“It’s great. It’s exciting,” Bobrovsky said. “You feel part of something big. Hockey is big. Everybody loves hockey and I love this responsibility. I enjoy being part of this team.”

He faced 36 shots, though he was aided six times by the iron on each side of him and across the net.

“I feel good. I saw the puck well,” Bobrovsky said. “I try to focus on one shot at a time and try to give my team the best chance to win the game.”

“I thought he was great,” Leafs captain Auston Matthews said. “They pounded pucks on our net for the first two periods, and he had to make great saves. The goals that did go in were (the result of) a lot of traffic, a little bit of what looked like interference. He competes every night. I don’t think any guy in this locker room has any concern (about) him.

“He’s a true professional. He comes to the rink ready to play each and every night and each and every day he’s the hardest worker.”

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Kevin McGran is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on Bluesky @kevinmcgran