After the Toronto Maple Leafs gave up the winning goal following a lucky bounce off an official, head coach Craig Berube was asked if the play should have been blown dead.
The Toronto Maple Leafs fell to the Washington Capitals 3-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.
It was a low-event game that flipped in the third period into Washington’s favor when Auston Matthews pass behind Toronto’s net went off a referee’s skate and in front of the Leafs’ goal. Capitals forward Connor McMichael then beat Anthony Stolarz to give Washington the 2-1 lead.
In the NHL rule book, goals can be waved off if the puck goes off the referee and into the net. But in this particular case, the puck just went in front of the net, creating a Grade-A chance. Should the rule be amended for this particular instance?
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube doesn’t think so, instead questioning the pass by Matthews.
“You are opening up a big can of worms there with that,” Berube said. “On that play, the bottom line is that instead of just going the other way with the puck, we brought it back.”
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Berube went on to say that play represented how Toronto performed against Washington as a whole.
“We did that too much tonight, from the first period on.It was the whole game. It eventually bit us and cost us.We didn’t play a north game. We didn’t play fast. They were the better team. They deserved to win.”
Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev pointed out that despite the bad luck, the Leafs had half a period to try and find an equalizer.
“I mean, it’s hockey, it’s what happens. So, we still, 10 or 12 minutes left in the game for us to try to score. We had some chances at the end. Obviously didn’t go in. We have to come and be ready with a better effort tomorrow.”
The Leafs rolled three lines and limited forward Nick Robertson to three shifts, but were unable to tie the game against as Washington set a franchise record with their eighth consecutive road win.
The Maple Leafs visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.