Referees setting the tone early on with how they plan to officiate Leafs games
With the Toronto Maple Leafs holding onto a 2-0 lead late in the second period of Saturday night's game against the Montreal Canadiens, Nicholas Robertson was whistled down for a rather suspect goaltender interference minor with 2:21 left in the period.
Racing down towards Montreal Canadiens net-minder, Sam Montembeault, Robertson tried to out-muscle and get around defenseman Justin Barron, but was unable to get a shot off with the blueliner wrapping himself around the forward to slow him down. Robertson still managed to get a shot off, but in doing so his momentum had him bumping Montembeault ever so slightly, resulting in a weak goalie interference call, setting the tone on how the game would be officiated moving forward.
Are the officials simply picking up where they left off last season, nailing the Leafs with any infraction they can find? There certainly wasn't much there to call, yet the call was made anyway. It's just a pre-season game, so perhaps it's a tad too early to get worked up about the officiating, but the call was pretty horrendous.
Thankfully, the Leafs not only killed off the penalty, they also didn't allow a shot on goal and ended up blocking 3 Juraj Slafkovsky shots in quick succession. The cherry on top of the cake was Robertson - of all people - scoring a big goal coming out of the box to make amends for a brutal call.
Racing out of the box, Robertson corralled the loose puck just outside of the Canadiens' zone, picked it up with speed, made on a move on Montembault and roofed it on his blocker side. The goal represented his first of the pre-season and gave the Leafs an unassailable 3-0 lead.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 2 | 373 ANSWERS Referees setting the tone early on with how they plan to officiate Leafs games Do you think the officiating will be better or worse than last season? | ||
| Better | 45 | 12.1 % |
| Worse | 328 | 87.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
