Before we dive into anything, I know how this is going to go, so let me start with this.
No, the Bruins did not lose in Montreal Tuesday night because Charlie Coyle’s third period goal was taken off the board after an offside challenge found Coyle to be offside as he entered the attacking zone. The Bruins lost for other reasons, which I will get to in a bit.
But NHL, what are we doing here?
I understand the pressure and importance of getting it right, but at what cost?
Wayne Gretzky scored 894 career goals, a number that may never be matched. But if we went back and looked at all 894 of those, how many would have been taken off the board because Mark Messier was an inch offside? Or taken off the board because Brett Hull entered the offensive zone two tenths of a second before the puck did on a rush that occurred a good 30 seconds before Gretzky scored from his office?
Was Coyle offside on the play, yes? And by rule, should a player deemed offside cause for the whistle to blow the play dead, yes?
I don’t hate a rule that’s been in hockey since its birth, and I don’t completely hate the fact that you can challenge whether a judgment call was made correctly or not.
However, I hate the process of the offside challenge, the time it takes to figure this out and how despite the NHL making a change to avoid what happened last night in Montreal, here we are, back to the issue that the league is trying to avoid.
Before you play the typical crybaby Boston blaming it on the referees card, please revert to beginning of this blog.
“You could argue it was a possession play,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Some are going to go your way, some not. Ours are not going our way lately; I assume they will straighten out over the course of time.”
The Bruins have lost four goals to video review through 15 games this season, three via offside review.
Tuesday’s review of the Coyle goal shows both his skates beating the puck into the offensive zone. I am not denying that. But what was not clear, and to me, clear enough to overturn the call was whether Coyle had possession of the puck as he entered the zone. Doesn't a play have to be conclusive in order for it to be overturned?
Zip it over there NFL, you don't know anything about getting calls right and correctly overturning things either.
The extremely ridiculous amount of time it took for the officials to figure that out leads me to believe the officials weren’t so clear on that either, especially with how clear the shot of puck, blueline and skates is.
"The rule was put in place specifically for egregious (calls). They’re over there for three minutes. You think, well, ‘What is the purpose of this rule?’ Either you find something or you don’t. Three minutes,” added Cassidy.”
“So now you’re looking for something for it to be offside. You know it’s going to go the other way, and it did. That’s where my beef comes from. Intent of the rule. You always want to get it right, but there was kind of a change this summer, punishing the coaches if they got it wrong, for this reason. They didn’t want three-minute reviews. Anyway, it was a big part of the game. Didn’t go our way, so that’s the way it goes some nights.”
"Intent of the rule."
Now that we have that out of the way…
Coyle’s non-goal wouldn’t have been an issue if the Bruins were better in the neutral and defensive zones.
From poor line changes, to ill-advised defensive pinches to a downright awful night by Tuukka Rask, the Bruins did themselves no favors, and the Canadiens did a good job making the Bruins pay for each mistake they made.
“It’s one of those nights when you feel like instead of a hockey puck, it’s a golf ball out there,” said Rask who made 26 saves on 31 shots. “Just not tracking it well. Tough night for me. I thought we battled well. Could have easily won the game. But yeah, I couldn’t really make a save.”
A night after Jaroslav Halak allowed six goals in a win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tuesday marked the first time all season Rask has allowed four or more goals in a game.
Even with Rask failing to make a handful of saves that he normally makes, his teammates in front of him did not do much to help the cause.
The breakdowns in the neutral zone started early, beginning with Tomas Tatar’s tally nearly two minutes after David Pastrnak tied the game at one.
A poorly timed pinch by Zdeno Chara with no support behind him opened the door and created a ton of space for Tatar to skate into the Bruins zone, beating Rask with a wrist shot.
Less than a minute after Tatar gave the Habs their second lead of the night, Paul Byron extended it. A play that would have never happened had Brett Ritchie grabbed the loose puck in front him instead of gilding to the bench for a line change.
3-1 and a whole different hockey game.
The last issue the Bruins had in their defensive zone was on Victor Mete’s second goal of the night. After Mete’s shot beat Rask, giving Montreal a 4-3 lead, Rask immediately gestured towards the officials after Nate Thompson collided with Rask.
But the interference from Thompson was caused by Chara checking Thompson into Rask, something Chara needs to be smarter about in front of his goalie.
“The ref came over and told me our guy knocked him into the goaltender, 'but if you wanna challenge it,'" Cassidy said as to why he decided not to challenge the goal. "So he’s basically telling me that you’re an idiot if you challenge because your guy knocked him into the goalie. Our goalie’s looking at me like I’m crazy, so we have to have a conversation with him the whys of it."
The loss was the Bruins first in regulation since October 10 in Colorado, a loss that saw two Bruins goals disallowed after video review revealed the Bruins offside on one, and interfering with the goalie on another.
It wasn’t all negatives for the Bruins in Montreal, however.
Making his 2019-20 season debut, Zach Senyshyn was a positive for the Bruins, impressing on a line with Coyle and Bjork. Had it not been for Coyle’s goal being waived off, Senyshyn would have picked up an assist on Coyle’s tally.
"Obviously, you want to get the two points, you want to help the team win. But I felt really good out there,” said Senyshyn. “It's pretty easy to play with a guy like Charlie Coyle and obviously Anders Bjork, who really pushes the play. It was a lot of fun out there, but not the outcome we wanted."
In 8:28 of five-on-five ice time together, the trio combined for seven shots, five scoring chances and were on the ice for two goals scored.
Speaking on Bjork, it's time to finally give the kid some credit. Inconsistencies and injuries have derailed his previous two seasons. But now finally healthy, and some confidence to boot, Bjork is proving that he is deserving of a spot in the lineup each night.
He's been using his speed to get to the night as we saw on his second goal of the season Tuesday night.
Despite the outcome, Tuesday’s contest in Montreal will always be a memorable one for Chara, who played in his 1500th career game.
And in one of the weirdest, but cooler things, you’ll see in hockey, the Habs faithfull—although it began with boos—gave the Bruins captain a standing ovation for his accomplishment.
“Obviously that felt really nice. I really appreciate that and it was very classy. It’s something that I will definitely remember,” Chara said. “It shows they’re passionate fans, they support their team. We know Canadian fans show so much support for their teams.”
A classy gesture indeed, but nonetheless, a standing ovation for Zdeno Chara in Montreal is still a strange sight to see.
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