The Oilers were three and a half minutes from a shutout victory in last night’s Game 5 against the Ducks. Then everything went wrong.
Edmonton coughed up their 3-0 lead in the final minutes of regulation, allowing Anaheim to score three goals in three minutes and ultimately losing in double-overtime. After the game, though, much of the focus was on something that didn’t happen—perceived goaltender interference that wasn’t called in the last 20 seconds of the third period, opening up a chance for Rickard Rakell to score the tying goal.
Several Edmonton players were adamant that Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler grabbed goalie Cam Talbot’s leg and got away with it. From the Edmonton Sun, winger Milan Lucic:
“A guy falls on the goalie and wraps his hand around the goalie’s pad… I don’t even know what goalie interference is anymore, to be perfectly honest. It’s an absolute joke that two good referees can’t make the right call at the right time. Especially when the guy has two or three seconds to get up, and he has his hand wrapped around the goalie’s leg. The goalie can’t get up to make a save, and it’s still a goal. Unbelievable.”
Coach Todd McClellan echoed the sentiment. (“Interference? You’re asking the wrong guy. I don’t know what interference is any more.”)
Kesler obviously makes contact with Talbot, but it’s difficult to tell if he actually lingered to grab his leg pad. It’s also difficult to have sympathy for a team arguing a no-call after coughing up a 3-0 lead in three minutes.