The Rangers believe they have been victimized twice within their last three games on video-review calls from Toronto regarding “kicked-in” goals allowed or disallowed.
There was nullification of the J.T. Miller “goal” off his right skate Thursday night in Philadelphia at 5:36 of the third period that would have brought the Blueshirts into a 2-2 draw in the game they lost 2-1.
And on Monday, there was verification of the Alex Galchenyuk goal at 17:09 of the third period at the Garden that gave Montreal an insurance goal in the Habs’ 2-0 victory.
Indeed, following the defeat to the Canadiens, Henrik Lundqvist said: “If that’s not a kick, I don’t know what a kick is. Seriously, there needs to be some sort of consistency in the call. I think that’s a kick. That’s my opinion.
“It would be very interesting to hear their explanation for it just to know, moving forward, what the rule really is.”
Ask and ye shall receive, King, for The Post has heard the NHL’s explanation of the rulings on Miller and Galchenyuk in addition to the basis for all decisions on such calls via an email correspondence with NHL Senior VP of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy.
The league uses five criteria developed in consultation with general managers as a basis for the decisions, which Murphy stressed, are not finalized until the play “is watched in real speed two or three times …this is most important to get a true feel for the play.”
The criteria are provided by Murphy are as follow: “1. Was there a distinct kicking motion? 2. Did the distinct kicking motion propel the puck into the net? 3. What direction was the skate/ player facing? 4. Did the puck have enough inertia/ force to go into the net on its own and the skate just changed the direction of the puck? 5. Did the skate just change the direction of the puck?”
Regarding the call on Miller, who had the puck carom in off his skate as he attempted to get his stick on a rebound while driving to the net with speed from the left side, Murphy wrote: “Miller’s review was: distinct kicking motion, propelled the puck, skate was facing the net, the puck had no inertia in the direction of the net; the skate provide the inertia.”
Regarding the call on Galchenyuk, who was also driving to the net but appeared to slow down/stop in attempting to handle a two-on-one pass, Murphy wrote: “We felt the puck hit his skate and went in the net. There was no distinct kicking motion, the puck had force/inertia of its own, Galchenyuk was attempting to control the pass.”
Murphy also added the league sends difficult reviews to a group of eight or nine GM’s, “to get their feedback to be sure we are clear in the direction they are giving us.”
Perhaps Lundqvist should be included next time on the email chain.