Silovs: Controversial winning goal 'doesn't make sense'
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
The Senators' Claude Giroux scores on Arturs Silovs in the third period Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins had their six-game winning streak snapped Monday night at PPG Paints Arena, falling to the Senators, 3-2.
Claude Giroux, known very well by those in black and gold from his days as captain of the Flyers, was the one who tallied the game-winner for the Senators at 14:52 of the third period. However, the goal didn't come without controversy.
Giroux crossed the Pittsburgh blue line with speed and without anyone in front of him thanks to Tim Stutzle batting the puck out of the air into the zone. Erik Karlsson fought hard from behind, giving Giroux a couple hard whacks to his right leg. Giroux then tripped and fell into both Arturs Silovs and the post, knocking the net off the moorings while the puck wound up crossing the goal line:
The initial call on the ice by referee Alex Lepkowski was a tripping minor on Karlsson. However, after review, Giroux was awarded the goal because the puck crossed the line before the net was dislodged.
"I saw the replay and, I mean, that play happened for us, like, four or five times this year," Giroux said. "So, you kind of know a little bit what to expect from the refs. I got tripped and I saw the post coming to my face. ... I didn't know the puck went across the goal line. But it was a big goal for us."
Dan Muse, however, quickly challenged the play for goaltender interference. Giroux undoubtedly made contact with Silovs while he was trying to prevent the puck from going into the net. However, after a very quick review, Lepkowski announced the call on the ice stood, upholding Giroux's goal.
Needless to say, Silovs didn't think very much of the ruling:
"I don't know. For me, it doesn't make sense," Silovs said. "He came in, I stopped the puck. He's going like 25 miles an hour going down. What do they expect me to do? Like, I don't understand how they think, whether they're protecting players or not, especially goalies. I don't understand this ruling. What's the decision there? I would understand if the goal's straight away in, then I'd agree with the call. But it's a second effort, so I don't really agree with the call."
Silovs, coming off a performance in which he singlehandedly kept the Penguins in a game they deserved to lose, was understandably frustrated. He stopped 28 of 31 shots, with several of those saves coming up against very dangerous scoring chances. So for his night to end like this, it's no surprise he started his postgame interview guns blazing, criticizing the call.
Muse reinforced Silovs' stance, saying "there's nothing else that he could do there." But, several of Silovs' teammates were in his corner, too. The feeling from some of the players in the locker room was Giroux toe-picked his right skate, causing him to fall forward. Pretty much, the question from those in the locker room is how Giroux fell forward if Karlsson's stick is hitting him on the outside of his right leg:
The difficulty of this whole play is one player is penalized for something completely out of their control. If Giroux truly lost his balance and fell because of Karlsson's slashes, then there's nothing he can do in that short amount of time to avoid contact with Silovs. If Silovs makes the initial save -- which he did -- but is prevented from making a second save because of the contact, there's nothing he can do, either. Somebody is going to get the short end of the stick, no matter how it's ruled.
The one thing teams can hope for is consistency from the officials. It's not like the Penguins have not had goaltender interference calls go against them this season. Pretty much every time they're on the wrong side of the call. The best the Penguins can do is gather as much information as possible from these instances and learn from them.
But, as Muse understands how goaltender interference is supposed to be called, he stands behind his decision, even though it put the Senators on a power play with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.
"There's a lot of factors that are played. We get all of them. We get the explanations," Muse said. "I'd challenge that one again."
THE ASYLUM
Silovs: Controversial winning goal 'doesn't make sense'
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
The Senators' Claude Giroux scores on Arturs Silovs in the third period Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins had their six-game winning streak snapped Monday night at PPG Paints Arena, falling to the Senators, 3-2.
Claude Giroux, known very well by those in black and gold from his days as captain of the Flyers, was the one who tallied the game-winner for the Senators at 14:52 of the third period. However, the goal didn't come without controversy.
Giroux crossed the Pittsburgh blue line with speed and without anyone in front of him thanks to Tim Stutzle batting the puck out of the air into the zone. Erik Karlsson fought hard from behind, giving Giroux a couple hard whacks to his right leg. Giroux then tripped and fell into both Arturs Silovs and the post, knocking the net off the moorings while the puck wound up crossing the goal line:
The initial call on the ice by referee Alex Lepkowski was a tripping minor on Karlsson. However, after review, Giroux was awarded the goal because the puck crossed the line before the net was dislodged.
"I saw the replay and, I mean, that play happened for us, like, four or five times this year," Giroux said. "So, you kind of know a little bit what to expect from the refs. I got tripped and I saw the post coming to my face. ... I didn't know the puck went across the goal line. But it was a big goal for us."
Dan Muse, however, quickly challenged the play for goaltender interference. Giroux undoubtedly made contact with Silovs while he was trying to prevent the puck from going into the net. However, after a very quick review, Lepkowski announced the call on the ice stood, upholding Giroux's goal.
Needless to say, Silovs didn't think very much of the ruling:
"I don't know. For me, it doesn't make sense," Silovs said. "He came in, I stopped the puck. He's going like 25 miles an hour going down. What do they expect me to do? Like, I don't understand how they think, whether they're protecting players or not, especially goalies. I don't understand this ruling. What's the decision there? I would understand if the goal's straight away in, then I'd agree with the call. But it's a second effort, so I don't really agree with the call."
Silovs, coming off a performance in which he singlehandedly kept the Penguins in a game they deserved to lose, was understandably frustrated. He stopped 28 of 31 shots, with several of those saves coming up against very dangerous scoring chances. So for his night to end like this, it's no surprise he started his postgame interview guns blazing, criticizing the call.
Muse reinforced Silovs' stance, saying "there's nothing else that he could do there." But, several of Silovs' teammates were in his corner, too. The feeling from some of the players in the locker room was Giroux toe-picked his right skate, causing him to fall forward. Pretty much, the question from those in the locker room is how Giroux fell forward if Karlsson's stick is hitting him on the outside of his right leg:
The difficulty of this whole play is one player is penalized for something completely out of their control. If Giroux truly lost his balance and fell because of Karlsson's slashes, then there's nothing he can do in that short amount of time to avoid contact with Silovs. If Silovs makes the initial save -- which he did -- but is prevented from making a second save because of the contact, there's nothing he can do, either. Somebody is going to get the short end of the stick, no matter how it's ruled.
The one thing teams can hope for is consistency from the officials. It's not like the Penguins have not had goaltender interference calls go against them this season. Pretty much every time they're on the wrong side of the call. The best the Penguins can do is gather as much information as possible from these instances and learn from them.
But, as Muse understands how goaltender interference is supposed to be called, he stands behind his decision, even though it put the Senators on a power play with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.
"There's a lot of factors that are played. We get all of them. We get the explanations," Muse said. "I'd challenge that one again."
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