John Tavares proposes interesting rule change after controversial disallowed goal against Chicago

BarDown Staff

Which Leafs are under the most pressure to perform in the first round?

The Toronto Maple Leafs got off to an extremely slow start on Wednesday night as they found themselves trailing the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0, by the first intermission. They did manage to get things going in the third period, but it was a little too late for the Leafs as they dropped their second straight game.

However, it looked like the Leafs tied things up late in the game as they slipped the puck past Collin Delia, but it was quickly called off due to the net coming loose and moving out of place. After the game, John Tavares was asked about the play and came up with a pretty good rule change for the owners to think about.

Tavares: "I didn't see what happened there with the net coming off, but if that's on purpose by them, especially in the last couple mins in big situations, I would love to see that being a challenge at some point. You have that kind of pressure & that's kind of a free out ..." https://t.co/O2PhWhX8Ku
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 14, 2019

Tavares is definitely onto something here with this potential challenge considering the league’s rule book states in the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goalposts, the Referee may award a goal.

In order to award a goal in this situation, the goal post must have been displaced by the actions of a defending player, the puck must have been shot (or the player must be in the act of shooting) at the goal prior to the goal post being displaced, and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts.

John Tavares on Delia's net coming off near end of #Leafs-Hawks: "If that’s on purpose by them in the last couple minutes in big situations, I would love to see that being a challenge at some point. When we get that kind of pressure, that’s kind of a free out [if on purpose]"
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) March 14, 2019

When you watch the replay it looks like Delia clearly pushed the net off in order to slow things down and to give his teammates a chance to catch their breath with the Leafs putting on the pressure, but it would definitely be interesting to see the league allow coaches to challenge these plays because they really can change the entire outcome of the game.

(H/T Twitter/markhmasters)