Damn, Blues fans, I feel bad for you. No one should lose in that fashion especially on their home ice in a virtual must-win in OT. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the Blues getting screwed out of the game on Wednesday night.
Here's the debate. pic.twitter.com/CTG7zcs8Bu
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 16, 2019
Similar to Columbus’ goal off the back netting against the Bruins in the second round, this obvious hand pass was not reviewable under the current rules. It’s a dog shit rule and will undoubtably find itself under review this off season.
With new rule changes looming, it begs the question, should it be illegal for Tuukka to be this good? I’ll be honest folks, it seems incredibly unfair. In game 3, Tuukka had to let a terrible goal slide through his arm just so Carolina players weren’t shamed in their own city.
I hope it doesn’t happen, but if the NHL head office asked me I’d have to say Tuukka being this good should in fact be illegal. I may love watching it, but with scoring being a big selling point of hockey, it simply isn’t beneficial to the league to have Tuukka terrorize goal scorers.
The proof is in the numbers here people.
Tuukka Rask Last 12 Starts
Rec 9-3
GAA 1.69
SV% .946
Rask is now having a comparable postseason in net to 2011 Tim Thomas. pic.twitter.com/tPEmllA9V0— House of Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) May 16, 2019
If this were the 70s when goalies were psychopaths willing throw their bones at slap shots with pillows tucked into their gear, then Tuukka would be a welcomed treasure. But today’s game is all about scoring and as you can see by the numbers above Tuukka is killing the product by not letting anyone score.
The worst part is there’s no stopping him. He’s going to walk into game 4 and not let Carolina score again and that’s not fair. I feel for Carolina the same way I feel for the Blues. But like the Blues having to accept that game 3 didn’t go their way, Carolina will have to accept that they are being cheated out of Stanley Cup chances just because the Bruins have Tuukka Rask. What a shame.
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