View Single Post
  #297  
Old 10-10-2019, 12:18 AM
Big Sky's Avatar
Big Sky Big Sky is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,310
Default

I don't think that there was a high stick on the Tkachuk goal. Here's why.

IIRC there are two types of high stick when playing the puck. The rule is a bit more complicated but this is the basic idea.

First; it is illegal for a player to contact the puck with their stick if the puck is above their shoulder.
Second; if the puck is higher than the cross bar, it is illegal for a player to direct the puck into the net with their stick.
The rule differentiates whether the puck goes into the net or not.

Tkachuk contacted the puck twice with his stick.

When he directed the puck into the net, IMO, the puck was clearly lower than the cross bar when he made contact, so that was a legal play.

On the first contact with the puck, the puck seems to be above the crossbar, but, IMO, it was not clear if the puck was above his shoulder. Todd McLellan could have challenged the call if he thought the puck was higher than Tkachuk' shoulder. This year, teams get a minor penalty for a failed coach's challenge, so my guess is McLellan didn't think that it was an obvious high stick and decided not to take the risk.
Reply With Quote