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It’s Possible that Dan Vladar Saves the Carolina Overtime Goal with a Free Glove Hand
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Some Flyers fans were asking after the Game 2 loss whether or not Taylor Hall’s winner should have been called back for goaltender interference:
It’s so quick in real time that it’s hard to see any kind of infraction. But if you watch it closely on the second replay, Sean Walker’s stick (right handed with white tape) comes down on Dan Vladar’s wrist and pins the glove hand to the ground:
Hard to say whether or not Vladar would have gotten to that puck one way or another. It’s Jackson Blake who comes in from the slot and flicks it out of the air, just enough to move it to Vladar’s left and allow Taylor Hall to score.
You’re not typically going to get a call like this, not in the regular season or the playoffs. You’ve got a loose puck, it’s outside of the crease, Walker is tangling with Cam York the entire way, and their sticks are kind of pushing against each other, so even in super slo-mo it doesn’t look like he purposely tried to slash down and alter the play. Incidental contact on a loose puck is going to be the ruling 99 times out of a hundred.
BUT – we can create a narrative if we want. Dirty Canes! Cheaters!
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com