Stanley Cup: Rod Brind'Amour defends Game 1 decision not to challenge for goalie interference

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour expressed no regret over his decision not to challenge the Vegas Golden Knights’ first goal in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final before his team lost 5-4.

Brind’Amour on Wednesday said he never really came close to challenging because he was not confident the on-ice officials and NHL’s situation room would see enough to wave it off for goaltender interference. Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar had a skate in the crease, but replays did not clearly show him impeding goalie Frederik Andersen’s ability to stop the shot by defenseman Shea Theodore, which banked in off the left shin pad of Hurricanes winger Eric Robinson.

“(Kolesar) was in the crease initially, and then he came out of it and then the shot goes off our guy,” Brind'Amour said. “It doesn’t really impact the goal. There’s too many variables there that are saying, ‘Nope, nope, nope.’"

Carolina led 2-0 on goals by Nikolaj Ehlers before Vegas got on the board to make it 2-1 with 6:32 left in the first period. The punishment for a failed challenge is a 2-minute penalty, so the Golden Knights would have gone on the power play after cutting their deficit in half.

Despite having a penalty kill that has allowed just four power play goals on 56 opportunities in the playoffs, a success rate of 92.9%, Brind'Amour and his staff did not want to take the risk.

“I think what I’ve seen — in the playoffs certainly — is if they’re more 50-50, they’re counting the goals now,” Brind'Amour said. "So, that was kind of our decision on that.”

Tomas Hertl's go-ahead goal with 3:24 left in regulation had the Golden Knights still talking the day after, largely because of how Colton Sissons assisted on it with a perfect backhander.

“Sick pass,” teammate Rasmus Andersson said. “It's a nasty pass.”

It looked like a no-look feed, but Sissons insisted he saw Hertl and said confidently, “I knew where he was.” Fourth-liner Nick Dowd was in awe but not surprised.

“Yeah, that was nice: probably one of the nicer passes I've seen in a long time,” Dowd said. “It was a high-level play, and then he put it into a puck-sized hole. It was a perfect play.”

Jalen Chatfield went undrafted, spent years in the minors and was 26 by the time he became a full-time NHL player. Now 30, the unheralded Carolina defenseman is in the final for the first time in his career and not taking it for granted.

“It’s just life,” Chatfield said. “It’s been a journey. I just stuck with it. Had a lot of ups and downs in my career, but everything I’ve gone through, I’ve gone through for a reason and I’ve learned a lot. It’s helped me grow as a person and as a player and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Brind'Amour did not know him before they were in the same organization together but now appreciates Chatfield grinding it out to get to this point.

“We had a couple of years watching him in the minors and just kind of just gradually get better and better,” Brind'Amour said. “You root for guys like that. Really, everything they have now, they’ve worked for and I think he’s still getting better. It’s gratifying to watch a kid put in the work and then have it pay off.”

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