Avs upset by Nathan MacKinnon ejection for goalie interference

The Colorado Avalanche strongly disagree with officials’ decision to award a misconduct penalty to star center Nathan MacKinnon for goaltending interference during their 4-3 home loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

With 37 seconds left in the second period and Colorado on the power play, MacKinnon headed to the net when Brock Nelson sent him a pass. As MacKinnon tipped the puck, Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse dove at him, with Nurse’s head touching MacKinnon’s hip. MacKinnon charged at Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram, knocking him to the ice. Ingram was skating alone with a cut on his forehead.

Officials assessed MacKinnon a major penalty for goalie interference, which automatically constitutes a game misconduct, and upheld that decision after video review. Ingram was replaced by Tristan Jarry, who stopped 11 of 12 shots in the Oilers’ victory.

“There’s no chance he hits the goalie if Nurse doesn’t hit him,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I don’t care if he’s injured or not, it’s a serious fall or not. It’s not a penalty. If you put guys in your own goalie, it’s not a penalty.”

Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said Ingram was not cleared to return to the game due to the NHL’s concussion protocol, but noted the goaltender felt fine after the game.

The Avalanche killed MacKinnon’s five-minute major, but ultimately lost the game on a power play goal by Oilers star Connor McDavid in the third period.

Knoblauch said MacKinnon’s penalty was “difficult” for officials to enforce.

“Obviously you have to protect your goalies. It wasn’t intentional, but you have to be careful with the goalies,” Knoblauch said. “Obviously they lost a good player.”

Bednar said officials didn’t give him a satisfactory answer about MacKinnon’s major penalty.

“The goalkeeper is injured, so it’s five o’clock [minutes]? I really don’t care if their goalie is injured. It’s their defenders’ responsibility, not our guy,” Bednar said.

MacKinnon’s teammates said they were also baffled by the call.

“Nate has one of the best spatial awareness in the league. He’s not going to cut the goalie like that,” Colorado defenseman Cale Makar said. “The explanation we received from the referees was that [Nurse] I didn’t push him enough.”

Avs center Nazem Kadri felt MacKinnon made an effort to avoid Ingram.

“He dives over the top of the field to try to get out of the way,” Kadri said. “It’s part of the rule, that the player makes at least some sort of attempt. There was clear contact, and I don’t know how it lasted five minutes.” [major]”.

Bednar and Kadri criticized the entire refereeing, especially in the third period.

“It was a little lopsided tonight,” Kadri said.

Bednar offered his perspective.

“I’m not going to talk about officiating, but it’s part of the game. We’re shorthanded and taking hits. Nelson dances off a guy in the neutral zone and gets tripped…that’s what penalties are for,” the coach said. “That’s my frustration. I thought our guys did a good job of overcoming that.”