Flyers unhappy with disallowed goal in OT loss
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two goals. Two coaches' challenges for goalie interference. Two decisions that went Columbus' way Sunday night. Those rulings from the NHL's Situation Room played a key role in the Blue Jackets' workmanlike 2-1 overtime win over the Flyers at Nationwide Arena.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two goals. Two coaches' challenges for goalie interference. Two decisions that went Columbus' way Sunday night.
Those rulings from the NHL's Situation Room played a key role in the Blue Jackets' workmanlike 2-1 overtime win over the Flyers at Nationwide Arena.
Columbus won it on Nick Foligno's goal from the high slot midway through overtime. Jake Voracek got caught up ice on the play, enabling the Blue Jackets to start a three-on-two break that finished with Foligno's 14th goal of the season.
The Flyers salvaged a point only because Brayden Schenn forced overtime by scoring with 16.5 seconds left in regulation while goalie Steve Mason was pulled for an extra attacker.
But an early goal that was taken away from defenseman Andrew MacDonald had the Flyers puzzled after the game. Goalie interference was called against Michael Raffl.
Just before the goal was scored, Raffl was skating in front and made incidental contact with Columbus defender Ryan Murray, who tapped into goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
"If that's the case, you should just start falling on your goalies, you know?" MacDonald said. "If they nudge you, just fall on them and they'll call it."
A little less than two minutes into the game, MacDonald's point shot was ruled a goal on the ice but, surprisingly, disallowed after a review in Toronto.
"It was just a guy trying to get to the front of the net and battling for space," MacDonald said. "We felt their goal was pretty similar."
MacDonald was referring to Columbus' first goal. Defenseman David Savard's second-period point drive went through traffic and got past Mason, giving the Jackets a 1-0 lead. Columbus' Josh Anderson made incidental contact with Mason's skate just before the goal was scored, causing coach Dave Hakstol to challenge the ruling.
Good goal, it was decided.
Mason said Anderson "nicked" his skate.
"I guess technically it was kind of a similar play," as the disallowed Flyers goal, he said. "I'm not sure why theirs was reversed and ours wasn't. If theirs counted, ours should have as well."
On MacDonald's goal, Bobrovsky said there "definitely" was contact, and that "my glove hit somebody" - Murray - "so I couldn't stop the puck. It was impossible."
The NHL's explanation for erasing the Flyers' goal: "The referee determined Raffl's actions in bumping the defenseman into the goalie prevented Bobrovsky from doing his job in the crease."
Schenn's late goal was the only one that counted against former Flyer Bobrovsky, the NHL's player of the month in December. Bobrovsky made 25 saves and is 6-1 in his career against the Flyers, along with a save percentage near .950 in those games. (In an oddity, like Schenn's goal, Columbus allowed a tally at the exact time - 16.5 seconds left - to give the Rangers a 5-4 comeback win on Saturday.)
Hakstol, whose team was coming off Saturday's 4-2 win over Tampa Bay, was pleased with the Flyers' all-around game.
"I liked how hard we played," he said. "We stuck with it right to the bitter end. There's obviously some things we can do better, but at the end of the day, our group stuck with it and got a real important point. Unfortunately, that second point is important, too."
Columbus ended a two-game losing streak. Before that, the Blue Jackets had won 16 straight, the second-best streak in NHL history.
The Flyers, who play in Buffalo on Tuesday, have lost eight of their last 10 games.
Late in the first period, Foligno knocked the Flyers' Travis Konecny into the boards. Roman Lyubimov went after Foligno, and Ivan Provorov paired off with ex-Flyer Scott Hartnell. There was a lot of yelling, but no punches were thrown, and no penalties were called.
Mason, who stopped Boone Jenner on a second-period breakaway, played well but slipped to 3-3-4 against his former teammates.
Mason (23 saves) had made nine straight starts before Michal Neuvirth was in the nets Saturday.
"I felt fresher, but it was also a matter of actually getting some practice in," Mason said. "We had a full practice a couple days ago and that was much needed . . . and then to have the day off [Saturday] and feel fresh today."
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