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Henrik Lundqvist Needs Help in His Crease from the Referees
Since the NHL lockout, the league has made it public that the protection of its goaltenders has become a priority.
However, as an observer from the New York metropolitan area, it has come to my attention that this policy of protecting goaltenders applies to only some of the league’s goalies.
In the New York area, where each of the three team’s goalies is their best player, there is always concern when there is contact. For the Devils and the Islanders, where Martin Brodeur and Rick DiPietro are both out for an extended period with injuries, goaltending has now become a huge concern.
For the Rangers, goalie Henrik Lundqvist has led them to the top of the Eastern Conference standings with Vezina-worthy play. However, if teams keep going to the front of the net and continuously create contact with Lundqvist without penalties being called, he too will be on the shelf with Brodeur and DiPietro.
The difference is that while Brodeur and DiPietro are two of the league’s most protected goaltenders (just ask Sean Avery), it is very rare that there will be a penalty called when contact is made with Lundqvist.
Saturday’s game in Washington was a great example of how Lundqvist is not protected. After Alexander Semin barreled into Lundqvist, the Rangers’ goalie finally had enough, and he showed emotion, pleading for a penalty against Semin. However, it was to no avail, and Washington ended up scoring on a rebound goal in front of the net 30 seconds later.
If the league wants to crack down on players deliberately creating contact with the goalie, then it has to be throughout the league. And when Lundqvist said in his post-game interview that the refs didn’t offer an explanation for why the penalty wasn’t called, you have to wonder about what the refs and the league are actually doing.
Lundqvist once again will be facing plenty of traffic tonight, when the Rangers host the Oilers.
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