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Noah Miller
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Coach’s Challenge: Gerard Gallant’s Support from the Bench
The Panthers’ on-ice efforts have been getting an extra boost from behind the bench this season thanks to Gerard Gallant’s effective use of the recently-introduced coach’s challenge.
Through 27 games this season, Florida’s bench boss has challenged five calls. Of these, three have been successful. However, the resulting win-loss record (3-2) is not indicative of how important these been in giving the Cats a much better shot at some crucial points in a tight Atlantic Division.
With the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors poised to hear progress reports on this year’s rule changes in Pebble Beach, here’s a look at how each one of the Panthers’ challenges have improved their chances of success in games this season.
Gerard Gallant has been a big fan of the Coach’s Challenge this season and it’s certainly been paying off.
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) November 6, 2015
October 17, vs. Dallas Stars – BB&T Center
The first challenge of the Cats’ season came in their fifth regular season contest against the Dallas Stars. After a flurry of activity 59 seconds into the second period and the end of a Panthers powerplay, Aleksander Barkov deposited a cross-ice pass from Jonathan Huberdeau into the Dallas net while the game was still scoreless. Officials waved the goal off, ruling that Jaromir Jagr made ‘incidental contact’ with the Stars’ goaltender Kari Lehtonen.
Gallant challenged the call and, after further review, the referees reversed their original deicion based on the observation that Jagr did not, in fact, interfere with Lehtonen before the puck crossed the goal line.
“They made the right call, and on anything that close, you’re going to challenge,”?Gallant told the League’s official website. “I looked up at the clock and said, ‘I think it’s going to count.’ I liked the look of it.”
The reversal gave the Panthers an early lead and swung the pendulum in their favour. Brandon Pirri built on this momentum a little over a minute later to give the team a two-goal lead. While Florida went on to lose the game 4-2 thanks largely to outstanding performances by Stars forwards Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, the challenge issued from the bench made it the Cats’ game to lose.
“You can’t give teams like this life,” Brian Campbell told Sports Illustrated. “We were giving them opportunities to wake up – odd-man rushes and turnovers. We were giving them opportunities to get their legs going.”
October 31, vs. Washington Capitals – BB&T Center
Gallant had his second crack at the coach’s challenge two weeks later against the Washington Capitals. With their top scorer (Jagr) out of the lineup, the Panthers dominated the first period in terms of shots (10-5 differential) and power play opportunities. After Jussi Jokinen gave Florida a one-goal lead early in the second period, Washington responded with a goal of their own in the early third.
2:23 into the final frame, Jay Beagle tapped a deflected shot from Alex Ovechkin past the Panthers’ backup Al Montoya. Gallant challenged the call, arguing that Capitals forward Justin Williams had interfered with the goaltender.
The video replay seemed to show that Williams hooked the glove of Montoya (intentionally or not), but only after the puck was well on its way past the goal line. The goal stood and the Panthers went on to lose the game in overtime by a score of 2-1.
“We played two good teams the past two nights,” Gallant told the NHL’s official website. “When you’re getting chances, that’s a good sign. If we weren’t getting chances, then I’d be frustrated.”
Despite falling to a 1-1 record on the coach’s challenge, the coach ensured that he gave his team every opportunity to maintain their hard-won lead. On this occasion, the challenge cost the team its timeout, but questioning such a close call seemed like the prudent course of action.
November 5, vs. San Jose Sharks – SAP Center
As the Panthers struggled to keep their November 5th game in the Shark Tank within reach, the coaching staff aptly applied the challenge to keep the Panthers within one. After the Sharks and Panthers alternated between creating two-goal leads and contracting the deficit to one (respectively), a late-second period tally by Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi threatened to extend the trend by establishing a 4-2 lead.
Florida’s bench, who took notice of the fact that Joe Thornton was offside on the play, successfully challenged it. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the exercise was all academic as the Sharks went on to a dominant 5-2 victory.
If anything, the successful challenge – and subsequent loss – highlighted that while it can serve to momentarily stunt momentum, Gallant’s astute challenges have to be complemented by an on-ice performance.
We played a loose game and gave them too many opportunities,” the coach told TSN. “We didn’t create enough chances. We just didn’t play well. Almost everything they got was from us giving them the puck. We weren’t sharp.
November 12, vs. Buffalo Sabres – BB&T Center
The Panthers’ coaching staff improved their challenge record to 3-1 during their November 12 bout with the Buffalo Sabres. Despite the Cats controlling the shot clock at the game’s halfway mark, a Tyler Ennis goal threatened to make the score 2-0 in favour of Buffalo with 13:27 to go in the game’s second period.
Receiving a feed from rookie phenom Jack Eichel, Ennis created a play in the Panthers’ zone and eventually banked a shot off of Luongo’s stick and into the net. Gallant challenged the goal on the premise that (much earlier) the forward crossed into the Panthers’ zone before Eichel had crossed the blue line with the puck. Upon further review, the officials reversed the on-ice call of “a good goal.” This successful challenge kept the Panthers within one goal in a tight game, which they eventually went on to lose 3-2.
(Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports)
November 29, vs. Detroit Red Wings – Joe Louis Arena
The most recent challenge from the Panthers’ bench came on November 29 against the Detroit Red Wings. The Panthers got off to a roaring start with Reilly Smith scoring a mere 28 seconds into the game. However, the game’s officials waved it off, arguing that Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau had made incidental contact with Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek.
Gerard Gallant challenged the call suggesting, instead, that the puck was in the net before Huberdeau made contact with Mrazek.
“When I looked at it, it was a 50-50 call,” Gallant told Sportsnet. “It was early in the game and I wanted to create some momentum.”
Smith went on to receive some poetic justice in the third period, tipping in a goal on an Aaron Ekblad shot that would eventually send the competitive game into overtime. Despite falling to a 3-2 record on the coach’s challenge, the Panthers managed to muster the momentum Gallant was hoping for and win the game 2-1 on a spectacular counterattack in the 3-on-3 component of overtime.
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