Dustin Tokarski was not happy to have lost his shutout bid, especially on a goal that occurred while he was hoping for a stoppage in play.
With the Red Wings on the power play, a crowd gathered at the top of the crease. Defenders PK Subban and Alexei Emelin battled with Detroit’s Riley Sheahan. During the play, Tokarski was bumped. Subban nearly fell on top of him.
The Habs’ goaltender lost his stick and suffered some sort of helmet malfunction. He gestured toward referee Rob Martell, tapping his helmet. Play continued. Tokarski hardly had time to retrieve his stick and get in position, Sheahan put the puck in the net to cut Montreal’s lead to 3-1.
Tokarski gestures to Referee Rob Martell about his helmet
Why didn’t the ref blow the whistle?
From the NHL Rulebook:
Rule 9.6 – When a goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask and his team has control of the puck, the play shall be stopped immediately to allow the goalkeeper the opportunity to regain his helmet and/or face mask. When the opposing team has control of the puck, play shall only be stopped if there is no immediate and impending scoring opportunity. This stoppage of play must be made by the Referee. When play is stopped because the goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask, the ensuing face-off shall take place at one of the defending team’s end zone face-off spots.
Regardless of whatever happened to Tokarski’s helmet, there’s no justification to stop play. A broken strap isn’t enough to get a whistle.
In case you’re wondering, if Tokarski removed his helmet during play, he’d be given a two-minute minor for delay of game.
Dustin Tokarski fixes his helmet after giving up a goal to Detroit
Luckily for Tokarski, he went the rest of the game without any helmet issues. He also didn’t give up any more goals, as the Habs went on to win 4-1.
Thanks to @myregularface/GIFGoldmine for the GIF.
