Controversy late as Bruins miss out on two goals in 1-0 loss to New Jersey

I’m not sure it’s possible to come closer to scoring without actually scoring.

In the last 90ish seconds of tonight’s 1-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils, the Bruins scored, had the goal called back, then came within a hair (at most) of scoring again.

Ultimately, neither counted, and the game went down as a 1-0 loss.

The first incident was probably the more controversial of the two, as Patrice Bergeron appeared to tie the game off of a net-front scramble.

However, Lindy Ruff elected to challenge for goalie interference, and the goal (which was called a good goal on the ice) was overturned.

The play in question:

In this case, the “goalie interference” they’re ruling is Krejci interfering with Mackenzie Blackwood’s ability to cover the puck.

You can see, in the second angle, that Blackwood clearly has the puck covered by his glove, and Krejci’s stick is what knocks it loose.

As Andrew Raycroft said post-game, you can’t just have players whacking the puck loose at every whistle (said as a true goalie).

Shortly thereafter, the Bruins came about as close to scoring as you possibly can, as a tumbling puck was kicked off the line by Blackwood.

This one was waved off on the ice, and confirmed as no goal after review.

What did Bruce Cassidy think?

Ultimately, I think the refs actually ended up getting both calls correct.

We’re conditioned to think of goalie interference as a player making contact or bumping into the goalie, but what Krejci did is just as much “preventing the goalie from making a save” as a bump, shove, etc.

It’s similar to the goalie having his pad pushed into the net with the puck on/under it.

With the goalline no goal, there was no angle that showed the puck clearly over the line. Ultimately, it was about as close as you can get.

Your thoughts?