Hartnell bumps goalie, gets game misconduct
The NHL is going to go to great lengths to protect goaltenders, and you’re simply not allowed to hit them, bump into them, or make any kind of unnecessary contact with them whether they are in their crease or not.
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Scott Hartnell found out all of this on Saturday night in Tampa Bay when he was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for charging Lightning goalie Ben Bishop behind the night, sparking a fight between Ryan Johansen and Vladislav Namestnikov, one of the most unexpected bouts of the season.
Here is the Hartnell-Bishop incident that started everything.
(GIF via @MyRegularFace)
Hartnell charging major and game misconduct pic.twitter.com/FQJ1KqFWnG
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 27, 2015
That could be seen as a controversial call because Hartnell is kind of in a tough spot there chasing a dump-in behind the net. As Bishop goes out of his crease to play the puck, Hartnell doesn’t really have much room to work with behind the net.
Here is what the NHL rule book says about charging and goaltenders.
A goalkeeper is not “fair game” just because he is outside the goal crease area. The appropriate penalty should be assessed in every case where an opposing player makes unnecessary contact with a goalkeeper. However, incidental contact, at the discretion of the Referee, will be permitted when the goalkeeper is in the act of playing the puck outside his goal crease provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact.
In this case, the referees obviously determined that Hartnell did not do enough to avoid the contact.
Penalties were a pretty big issue for the Blue Jackets in the second period after they took a 2-1 lead on a Hartnell goal.
Just two minutes after the Blue Jackets took the lead, they took three penalties within a three-second stretch that started with a Dalton Prout cross-checking minor. On the ensuing faceoff, Jack Johnson was given a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass from the defensive zone, which was followed by Gregory Campbell earning another delay of game penalty for a faceoff violation. That gave the Lightning an extended 5-on-3 power play which resulted in Steven Stamkos scoring a pair of goals.
Nikita Nesterov added another power play goal on the Hartnell penalty for charging Bishop.
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