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Greg Wyshynski
Multiple Authors
The Colorado Avalanche sharply disagreed with the officials’ decision to give star center Nathan MacKinnon a game misconduct for goalie interference in their 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
With 37 seconds left in the second period and Colorado on a power play, MacKinnon went hard to the net as Brock Nelson sent him a pass. As MacKinnon tipped the puck wide, Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse dove into him, with his head connecting on MacKinnon’s hip. MacKinnon barreled into Oilers goalie Connor Ingram, knocking him to the ice. Ingram would skate off on his own with a cut on his forehead.
The officials gave MacKinnon a major penalty for interference on the goaltender, which carries an automatic game misconduct, and upheld that call after video review. Ingram was replaced by Tristan Jarry, who stopped 11 of 12 shots in the Oilers’ win.
“There’s no chance that he hits the goalie if Nurse doesn’t run into him,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. “I don’t care if he’s injured or not injured, it’s a severe crash or not a severe crash. It’s not a penalty. If you put guys in your own goalie, it’s not a penalty.”
Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said Ingram wasn’t allowed back into the game due to the NHL’s concussion protocol, but noted he was feeling well after the game.
The Avalanche would kill off the 5-minute major given to MacKinnon but eventually lost the game on a power-play goal by Oilers star Connor McDavid in the third period.
Knoblauch said the MacKinnon penalty was a “difficult one” for the officials to make.
“Obviously you have to protect your goalies. It wasn’t on purpose, but you have to be careful with goaltenders. Obviously, they lost a good player,” he said.
Bednar said he wasn’t given a satisfactory answer about MacKinnon’s major penalty by the officials.
“The goalie’s hurt, so it’s five [minutes]? I really don’t give a crap if their goalie’s hurt. That’s on their D-men, not on our guy,” he said.
MacKinnon’s teammates said they were also baffled by the call.
“Nate’s got some of the best spatial awareness in the league. He’s not going to cut into the goalie like that,” said defenseman Cale Makar. “Explanation we got from the refs was that [Nurse] didn’t nudge him enough.”
Center Nazem Kadri felt MacKinnon made an effort to avoid Ingram.
“He’s diving across the top of the crease to try to get out of the way. That’s part of the rule, for the player to at least make some sort of attempt. There was clear contact, and I have no idea how that was a five-minute [major],” Kadri said.
Both Bednar and Kadri were critical of the officiating overall in the game, especially in the third period.
“It was a little lopsided tonight,” Kadri said.
“I’m not going to make it about officiating but it’s part of the game. We’re shorthanded and taking slashes. Nelson dances a guy in the neutral zone and gets tripped … that’s what the penalties are for,” Bednar said. “That’s my frustration. I thought our guys did a decent job working through that.”
