Did the NHL get the Sam Bennett goal call right?

Sam Bennett seems to love causing problems for his opponent in the playoffs. He’s only been back for two games in the Florida Panthers second round series against the Boston Bruins, and he’s already making headlines for the wrong reasons in both games.

First, Friday saw him injure Brad Marchand on a dirty play, and then on Sunday he scored the game-tying goal by pushing Charlie Coyle on top of Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman before burying the puck, a play that wasn’t deemed goalie interference after a review. That helped the Panthers rally from down 2-0 in the game and eventually win 3-2 to take a 3-1 series lead.

Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk took a look at Bennett’s controversial Game 4 goal, and debated about whether or not it was goaltender interference on Daily Faceoff Live.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I think that’s goalie interference. He shoves a guy into the goalie and then immediately pops the puck home.

Frank Seravalli: I know what the rulebook says, I don’t think he’s making that save regardless. I don’t think his actual ability to make the save is impeded by this.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The guy’s on his arm, that’s the arm he would have reached out to try and save it with.

Frank Seravalli: I understand what you’re saying, I just disagree. I think the overhead view paints a slightly different picture.

Tyler Yaremchuk: If the argument is “I don’t think he stops the puck”, that’s not good enough for me. He has to have a chance to stop the puck and he didn’t have a chance to stop the puck.

Frank Seravalli: Maybe the proper sequence here would have been to call a penalty.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Is that not just straight up interference on Coyle? Coyle doesn’t touch the puck. He’s close to it, but he doesn’t touch the puck, and Bennett knocks him over and then grabs it and scores. That’s also normal interference. It’s a net front battle, but it’s interference.

You can watch the full episode here…