The Boston Bruins scored one of their most impressive victories of the season Saturday night, but they had to overcome not one, but two questionable calls to do so.
Both controversial rulings came within one 44-second span late in the first period of Boston’s eventual 7-3 win over the Dallas Stars.
First, Antoine Roussel scored to put the put Dallas ahead 2-1 and appeared to make contact with Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask in the process. That’s what Bruins coach Claude Julien believed, at least.
Julien challenged the play, claiming goaltender interference, and when the officials did not reverse their call, he launched into a profanity-laced tirade, a sarcastic smile plastered across his face.
Less than a minute later, Stars winger Patrick Sharp split the Bruins’ defense and threw a shot on net. Rask initially appeared to make a highlight-reel save, but his attempt to swat the puck out of harm’s way instead resulted in it deflecting off defenseman Adam McQuaid’s skate and over the goal line.
McQuaid knocked the net off its moorings before the puck crossed the line, but the referees ruled he did so intentionally, and the folks at the NHL’s replay headquarters in Toronto agreed.
“The referee informed the Situation Room that if the puck entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts, a goal would be awarded,” the league said in a statement confirming the call on the ice. “Video review confirmed that this indeed was the case, therefore a goal was awarded in accordance with Rule 63.6.”
Julien naturally was incensed, and even Sharp admitted he wasn’t sure his goal would count.
“Originally, I thought it was a penalty shot, just the way the ref reacted to the goal,” Sharp told NESN rinkside reporter Tom Caron during first intermission. “Both goals — Roussel’s and then the one they called on mine — I honestly didn’t know what to think. I was 50-50 on both of them. Those guys have a tough job of deciphering what to call. I’m sure Boston’s not happy with it. We’ll take the goals, obviously.”
Sharp’s tally gave the Stars a 3-1 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the first period, and given the Bruins’ poor track record against Western Conference playoff teams, it was easy to envision a situation in which Dallas would continue to pile it on.
This time, however, that did not happen. The Bruins roared back to score three goals in the second and three more in the third — six unanswered in all — to turn a two-goal deficit into a runaway win.
Boston previously had trailed by multiple goals in 18 games this season and won just one.
“I think we were a little frustrated, but we had a calming sense of mind after that (first) period,” winger Brad Marchand, who scored twice in the win and leads the Bruins with 30 goals this season, told reporters after the game, as aired on “Bruins Overtime LIVE.”
“We just seemed like we were confident. We knew there was a lot of time left in the game, and we know we’re a good team, especially the way we’ve been playing lately and on the road. We showed a lot of character (Saturday night). I think we have to be happy with this win, and hopefully we can build off this momentum.
Thumbnail photo via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
