The Daily Faceoff Show: Tim Peel on Blues’ failed coach’s challenge vs. Penguins
When the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night to secure their ninth consecutive victory, the pivotal moment occurred with just under eight minutes to play in the third period.
With the visiting Blues leading 3-2, goalie Jordan Binnington attempted to glove down a shot from Penguins forward Jake Guentzel. However, with Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby crashing the net after fighting his way through a check from defenseman Niko Mikkola, Binnington and Crosby collided.
The collision resulted in Binnington dropping the puck right in front of his crease. Crosby promptly scooped up the rebound and deposited it past Binnington to tie the game, 3-3.
Party Hard, @penguins fans.
Who else but Sidney Crosby pic.twitter.com/gEjwtMT4KV
Blues coach Craig Berube immediately issued a coach’s challenge for goaltender interference.
After Berube’s challenge was denied and the goal was allowed to stand, Pittsburgh got the game-winning goal a mere 12 seconds later when Evan Rodrigues scored on the ensuing power play.
Following the game, there were those who griped that the Penguins benefited from Crosby receiving “star treatment” in receiving the benefit of the doubt on the call.
Speaking on Thursday’s episode of The Daily Faceoff Show, retired NHL referee Tim Peel said he doesn’t think that this was that case. Peel felt that referees Ian Walsh and Dean Morton made the correct decision.
“I saw on social media, everybody thought: ‘oh, Sidney Crosby’s getting preferential treatment, it’s Sidney Crosby,’” Peel said. “Well, I don’t care if it’s Sidney Poitier, that’s not a goaltender interference play.
“You ask anybody what did Sidney Crosby do wrong – he didn’t do anything wrong. He was outside the paint. His foot might have been in an inch or two.
“But it was the actions of Binnington that caused the goaltender interference.”
Although the play was ‘obviously’ not goaltender interference in Peel’s eyes, he said that there are often situations where coaches challenge plays, even if the coaches themselves know that their challenge contradicts what actually happened.
“I didn’t agree with the challenge, but I’ve talked to coaches and GMs this year about different challenges, because sometimes I’ll notice they’ll sometimes challenge a play I can tell at home that it’s not going to get overturned,” Peel said.
“Sometimes they said that sometimes they just need a challenge. They want to show they’re supporting their goaltender. They feel that if they don’t challenge it, the goaltender is basically going to say: ‘do you guys not respect me enough to think that it was goaltender interference?’
“Sometimes at home, as a fan, you wonder why they challenge it. There’s a reason sometimes that they challenge it that we’re not aware of.”
You can watch the full episode here…