Anders Lee wasn’t so upset that his apparent game-tying goal was disallowed at the end of the Islanders’ loss to the Maple Leafs on Thursday.
The reason?
Lee figured that if the Islanders had gotten the break on the initial call — the puck was ruled to be frozen under Joseph Woll before he jammed it in — the goal would have been wiped off anyway for goalie interference.
“To me, the puck’s loose,” he said after the ruling with 23 seconds to go in regulation resulted in a 2-1 defeat at UBS Arena. “But if the puck’s loose, I think we’re losing the call either way ’cause then they’re just gonna call goalie interference.
“You just jam until you hear a whistle. Jammed it. I think the whistle had blown at the same time. Whatever, puck goes in. It’s under him but it’s not covered, if that makes sense, ’cause it’s loose. Who knows what happens if it’s a goal and they challenge for the poke or whatever.”
Though the fans at UBS Arena were incensed with the ruling, there wasn’t much anger about it in the Islanders’ dressing room.