Montreal Canadiens: NHL Officials Just Don’t Like Brendan Gallagher

The Montreal Canadiens took a very depleted lineup into Tampa Bay last night to face the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

I would call it a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final, but the Canadiens have so many players out with injury, plus nine players on the Covid protocol list, that they don’t look like last year’s team at all right now.

Still, they gave a valiant effort and were in the game until the final moments. They would lose on an overtime goal by Ondrej Palat, but secured one point and were leading until the final minute.

If not for yet another ridiculous call that went against Brendan Gallagher, the Canadiens would have won the game in regulation. The Habs looked to have scored in the second period to take a 3-2 lead over the Lightning, but the referee was quick to call the goal back. Gallagher cut to the net and fired a backhand shot on goal that was stopped. He was clearly going past the front of the crease until he was hit by a Lightning defender into Lightning goalie Maxime Lagace.

The puck bounced off Gallagher, he made some contact with the goalie and the puck ended up in the net. It went to review, where the logical conclusion was the Lightning defender knocked Gallagher into his own goalie, so the goal should be good.

But, it was Gallagher so of course the goal did not count.

Gallagher has a history of goal reviews not going his way. This one was probably the worst one yet. Clearly the contact only happens because Gallagher is thrown into the goaltender by a Lightning defender. If not for that hit, the puck likely would have bounced out into the slot, or Gallagher would have continued by the front of the crease without making any contact with the goaltender or impeding with his ability to make a save.

Even head coach Dominique Ducharme feels there is a different outcome when it is Gallagher involved in front of the net.

To make it even worse, the Lightning got a power play out of the call because the Canadiens challenged the call on the ice and were “wrong.” Of course, the Lightning scored just as the penalty was expiring so instead of the Canadiens being up 3-2, they were behind 3-2 late in the second period.

It was a few years back, but many Canadiens fans recall the time Carey Price was dragged into the corner by a New York Rangers player and the goal was allowed to count. Clearly, this Rangers forward skated through the crease, gets his foot tangled up in Price’s pad and drags him far away from the net. The rebound is knocked in while Price lays well behind the goal line, but somehow this goal was allowed to count.

All fans really want is a little consistency. It is frustrating when you are watching a game and you have no idea whether a goal is going to count or not. Sometimes when it looks like it should, they call it back. Other times when you are certain it won’t count, the goal stands.

The only consistency is when Gallagher is involved, you can bet the goal won’t count.