The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks on an overtime penalty shot goal scored by Jake Walman.
Early in the extra session, Walman moved in on a breakaway, pursued by Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes. The Canucks blueliner delivered a cross-check to Walman’s back, knocking him off balance and forcing the shot wide of the net.
Referee Brandon Blandina signaled for a penalty shot.
Only… there’s no penalty shot for cross-checking.
Cross-checking can result in a minor or major penalty depending on the severity of the cross-check, or a match penalty if there’s intent to injure.
That being said, let’s look at the criteria here under Rule 57 for Tripping:
When a player, in the neutral or attacking zone, in control of the puck (or who could have obtained possession and control of the puck) and having no other opponent to pass than the goalkeeper, is tripped or otherwise fouled from behind, thus preventing a reasonable scoring opportunity, a penalty shot shall be awarded to the non-offending team.
In order for a penalty shot to be awarded for a player being fouled from behind, the following four (4) criteria must have been met:
(i) The infraction must have taken place in the neutral or attacking zone (i.e. over the puck carrier’s own blue line).
(ii) The infraction must have been committed from behind.
(iii) The player in possession and control … must have been denied a reasonable chance to score. The fact that the player got a shot off does not automatically eliminate this play from the penalty shot consideration criteria. If the infraction was from behind and the player was denied a “more” reasonable scoring opportunity due to the infraction, then the penalty shot should still be awarded.
(iv) The player in possession and control … must have had no opposing player between himself and the goalkeeper.
Hughes clearly cross-checks Walman from behind, knocking him to his knees and impacting his scoring chance.
While the cross-checking rule doesn’t specifically call for it, the tripping rule does encompass other fouls that may impact a player’s scoring opportunity, as noted above. Other rules that do specifically result in penalty shots for fouls from behind are holding (Rule 54), hooking (Rule 55), and slashing (Rule 61), all of which refer back to the tripping rule when it comes to penalty shots.
The other consideration is that the infraction – while called a cross-check by Blandina – falls within the tripping guidelines, since the actions of Hughes caused Walman to stumble and fall to the ice.
Based on the rulebook, a foul from behind can prompt a penalty shot. To be fair, the rule book is in serious need of a rewrite for clarity and consistency. Nonetheless, it supports referee Brandon Blandina’s call based on the fact that Walman was fouled from behind.
Now, if your argument is that the cross-check shove from behind doesn’t warrant a call at all, that’s a different debate.
The Detroit Red Wings won the game 4-3 over the Vancouver Canucks. Referees were Brandon Blandina (#39) and Carter Sandlak (#29) with Kyle Flemington (#55) and Tommy Hughes (#65) on lines.
