During last night's Leafs/Golden Knights game in Toronto, there was a highly controversial play stoppage in the 2nd period that had TSN's Mike Johnson fuming. The play in question occurred just over a minute into the 2nd period, when Vegas goaltender Adin Hill's skate blade popped out during play.
Johnson was very clearly upset with the referee's decision to stop play, as Hill opts to use goalie skates with blades that can eject out of the boot for easy access to blade changes. There is no rule that should enable a referee to stop play for a skate blade issue, and Johnson, in the moment, reiterated that he felt it was the wrong call to blow the play dead to allow Hill the opportunity to get to the bench for a swap.
Perhaps you'll recall back in 2018 during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask had his skate blade pop out, causing him to slide and flail, leaving him unable to make a save on a shot from Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
The goal, of course, was upheld, and the league issued this explanation of the call, outlining rule 9.6, which states that referees cannot stop play due to a broken piece of equipment, unless it's a goaltender's helmet, which has caused it to fall off during play.
The NHL's officials continue to re-write the rules on the fly repeatedly in any way that can disrupt any momentum the Leafs may be able to generate. Fortunately in this instance, it's not as though the Leafs had scored and had a goal overturned, so the situation is far less controversial than it could have been. Still, though, the league continues to contradict its own rules at countless turns and it's funny that these sporadic rule changes always seem to occur during a Leafs game. Embarrassing look for the league.
