Did Canucks screw up by not challenging for goalie interference?

Sportsnet

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It was a game-changing decision, but Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet felt the reward wasn’t worth the risk.

But was he right?

The Canucks lost 2-1 to the Nashville Predators in Game 5 at Rogers Arena last night.

But Nashville’s first goal, scored by Roman Josi at 7:15 of the third period, was under the microscope. The goal tied the game 1-1, but plenty of people think it shouldn’t have counted.

That’s because Josi didn’t knock the puck into the net.

With the puck sitting under Arturs Silovs, Predators forward Gustav Nyquist charged hard to the net and bumped the Canucks goaltender to dislodge the puck and send it into the net.

The Predators tie it on the power play. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/kfng2CW6lN

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 1, 2024

And if the NHL viewed it that way, Tocchet should have challenged the goal.

But it wasn’t that simple.

Canucks defenceman Nikita Zadorov simultaneously made contact with Nyquist.

Here’s what the NHL rulebook says on the matter:

“If an attacking player has been pushed, shoved, or fouled by a defending player so as to cause him to come into contact with the goalkeeper, such contact will not be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player… provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact.”

Did Zadorov cause Nyquist to come into contact with Silovs? He wasn’t pushing him into the Canucks goaltender, but you could make a case that he didn’t allow him to stop. But given how fast Nyquist was skating towards the Canucks crease, can you really say he made “reasonable effort” to avoid contact?

We’ll never know how the NHL video replay judge would have ruled, but if the decision went against Vancouver, the Canucks would have been assessed a two-minute penalty for delay of game.

Tocchet called it a “50/50” play after the game.

The Canucks lost, so it’s easy to say now that Tocchet should have challenged the play. But with the NHL notoriously unpredictable with how they define goaltender interference, Vancouver’s bench boss didn’t feel confident in the outcome.

“I don’t know what the NHL would do on that one,” he added.

Tocchet would have been second-guessed if the NHL had ruled against Vancouver and Nashville scored on the ensuing power play. It would have been like gifting a win to the Predators.

But if the chance of overturning the call was truly 50%, then math dictates the Canucks should have challenged it. That’s because Vancouver’s penalty kill percentage during the regular season was 79.1%, and 89.5% in the series.

In other words, odds are that even if you’re wrong on the challenge, you’ll kill the penalty.

The decision was game-changing. The Canucks hope it isn’t series-changing too.

Game 6 is set for Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Friday.

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