NHL | Disallowed goals sank Tampa. I didn’t see anything flashy, the coach was angry

Tampa could have taken a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Anthony Cirelli’s save was disallowed after a Panthers coaching call for Anthony Duclair’s contact with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

And on Tuesday night, even Mikhail Sergačov’s goal was not valid for 2:2, when Cirelli moved in front of the Florida goalkeeper for a change. After the puck landed in the home net, referee Eric Furlatt immediately vehemently signaled that the goal did not count. And Tampa coach Jon Cooper failed the challenge this time.

“These were clearly the turning points of the match. If anyone is going to talk about this game, they have to talk about the goals that were called off. At the same time, I thought that the rules were modified so that more goals would be scored,” said Cooper.

“The NHL has declared that if the goal is called back, something threatening must precede the situation. That should be the standard for disallowing a goal. Well, I didn’t find anything even remotely flashy about the first one. Just a crowd in front of the goal. Bobrovské misses the puck and ends up in the net,” shouted the Lightning coach, who considered Duclair’s contact with the home goalkeeper to be insignificant.

But the second situation raised Cooper’s spirits, “Are fights in front of the goal no longer allowed? But I have to praise their goalkeeper, who immediately gave up and waved his hockey stick… But even he should be able to fight something, because the war is raging in front of the goal area. If it’s supposed to be like this, then let the goalkeepers put on their skirts,” the coach lamented that Cirelli’s turn in front of Bobrovský was considered illegal.

But the people doing the analysis in the situation room felt that the Tampa forward did not do enough to avoid contact. As a result of the failed challenge, the Lightning were then awarded a minor delay of game penalty.

The visitors’ bid to extend the streak was dealt a final blow in the third period, when the Panthers added four goals, two of them on empty nets, and celebrated advancing to the conference semifinals against the winner of the Boston-Toronto series (3-1 in games so far) after a 6-1 win.

Immediately after the final siren, speculation began again as to whether 34-year-old Steven Stamkos (1082 starts, 555 goals), its longtime leader and captain, had played his last game for Tampa.

“To be honest, I was disappointed that nobody spoke to me (about a contract extension). There were no talks,” Stamkos, who scored 40 goals in the regular season and added another five in the playoffs, said during the training camp.

“After the season we will sit down and evaluate how we are doing as a team and how Steven is doing. We’ll see how we can put all the pieces together,” countered general manager Julien BriseBois in January. “My job is to try to build the team that has the best chance to win the Stanley Cup. It’s not about the individual, it’s always about the team.”

A saddened Stamkos now told Sunrise that he didn’t think about his future on the ice. “I’m just there to try to help our team win, no matter what. We have our pride,” said the Tampa captain.

“Steven belongs here. We know it, he knows it. I don’t know what will happen, but he will still feel like a Lightning player for the rest of his life. And a damn good player,” Cooper was clear.