Knights’ Gallant supports switch in goalie interference reviews
Referees are no longer the final arbiters when it comes to goaltender interference.
The NHL made the switch Wednesday and will use hockey operations staff to review all goalie challenges by coaches for the rest of the regular season and playoffs. The referees will still have input, but the final decision will now come from league offices in Toronto.
“I think it’s a positive thing for sure,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said Wednesday morning before the Knights faced the Arizona Coyotes at T-Mobile Arena. “I think you’ll see more consistency in the decisions.”
Video coach Tommy Cruz notifies Gallant if he believes there was a legitimate interference challenge. The Knights are 1-7 this year on those challenges.
“It’s never been frustrating to me all year,” Gallant said of losing so many goaltender interference challenges. “Sure, you want to win every time you challenge. But I know they’re controversial calls. The referees have a hard job and the people in Toronto will have a hard job. But I really think the new rule will help.”
NBC documentary
The Knights will be the feature of a 30-minute documentary by NBC Sports.
“Knight Fever” will air Tuesday on NBC Sports Network following the Boston-Tampa Bay game. The story of the team, from the expansion draft to the present, will be covered in the piece and includes interviews with majority owner Bill Foley, general manager George McPhee and several players, including Marc-Andre Fleury and Deryk Engelland.
“This is an inspirational story of a franchise that continues to defy the longest of odds, whose unimaginable success helped lift a grieving community in the wake of an unspeakable tragedy,” said NBC Sports Group senior vice president Mark Levy. “Now on the cusp of history the Golden Knights have become one of the greatest sports stories in recent memory and this special captures their remarkable journey.”
Lindberg breaks glass
The morning skate at City National Arena on Wednesday was slightly altered after Oscar Lindberg took a shot that shattered a pane of protective glass behind the goal.
No one was injured and the team opted to use three-quarters of the ice for the 30-minute workout while workers replaced the broken glass.
Belly cleaning up the mess Lindberg made ? pic.twitter.com/MEvRgW0lx7
— x – Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 28, 2018
“That was a first,” Lindberg said of his shot, which came a few minutes before the skate started. “It wasn’t even a hard shot. It caught the glass just right. I’m just glad no one was hurt.”
Knights vice president Murray Craven, who oversees the practice facility, joked, “It must have been a weak pane of glass.”
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Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.
