BOSTON — Claude Julien had some strong words for goalie Ben Bishop on Monday, insinuating the Bruins’ three goaltender interference penalties in a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning were the result of embellishment on Bishop’s part.
“If we’re gonna do something about it — this has been talked about for a long time, not just from me but from so many coaches and people — is that they’re trying to get the embellishment out of the game, but they don’t seem to pay any attention to it when it comes to goaltenders,” the Bruins coach said after his team’s 6-3 loss at TD Garden. “We’ve seen it many times on replays, watching games on TV, the embellishment gets called against the other guy. Right now, they’re getting away with a lot of it.”
“I’m 100 percent behind protecting goaltenders — don’t get me wrong, I want goaltenders to be protected,” Julien continued. “And it doesn’t matter if it’s yours or another goaltender, they should be protected, not just by their team but also by the referees. We’ve got to find a way to define whether they’re really getting taken advantage of or whether there’s some embellishment there.”
Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and David Pastrnak all were whistled for goaltender interference in the game. The Bruins were able to kill off two of the penalties, but Bergeron’s infraction led to the Lightning’s second goal, which tied the game in the first period.
This was the second time this season Julien has criticized a goalie interference call. He was similarly upset after one such ruling wiped away a Loui Eriksson goal during Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
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