Jonathan Quick has already submitted his bid for worst goaltending blunder of the year, but his former backup is giving him a run for his money.
Jonathan Bernier, now with the Maple Leafs after being traded from Los Angeles over the summer, let in a ghastly goal of his own Thursday night, and it ended up costing Toronto the game.
With the Leafs and Hurricanes tied 2-2 with seven minutes remaining in the third (Bernier had already let in a pair of goals in the final period), Carolina’s Ron Hainsey sent a long pass up ice from deep in his own zone. His pass was off the mark, traveling the length of the rink, but Bernier misplayed the carom off the end boards and allowed the puck to slide right past his skate and into the open net.
An argument could be made for icing on the play under the NHL’s new hybrid icing rules. But officials ruled that Carolina’s Raden Dvorak had won the race for the puck, negating any icing call and allowing the goal — the eventual game-winner — to stand.
Check out Bernier’s blunder in the video below.
