The first NHL head coach to pull his goaltender for an extra attacker was the legendary Art Ross.
It was on March 26, 1931, when Ross was the head coach of the Boston Bruins. His Bruins were facing the Montreal Canadiens in the semifinal of the 1931 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they were down 1-0 late in the game.
Two nights earlier, in Game 1 of their best-of-five series, the Bruins had rallied from a three-goal deficit with three goals in the third period before winning in overtime. But the Bruins hadn’t been able to solve Canadiens goaltender George Hainsworth in Game 2. So, Ross decided he needed to do something drastic.
Pulling your goaltender for an extra attacker had already been done in lower levels of the game, with future Hall of Famer Lloyd Turner known for doing so in minor professional hockey with the Minneapolis Millers. But it had never been attempted in the NHL, let alone in the elevated stakes of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
So, it was unexpected when Ross pulled goaltender Tiny Thompson, sending a forward out in his stead.
Here’s how it was reported in The Vancouver Daily Province the following day:
“During the final minute, Manager Art Ross resorted to an amazing manoeuvre. In a final desperate scoring attempt he pulled his goalie out of the game and replaced him with a forward. The Bruins kept the puck inside of the enemy territory until the final bell, but the Flying Frenchmen’s stubborn defense could not be cracked, and they held their 1-0 margin.”
The Vancouver Sun, meanwhile, used the subheader, “Ross copies Turner,” to point out how one future Hall of Famer was cribbing from the tactics of another future Hall of Famer.
After that, pulling the goaltender for the extra attacker became expected in certain situations. It was typically a tactic reserved for the final minute when down by one goal — a last-change, go-for-broke move that accepted the risk of an empty-net goal for the possibility of some last-minute heroics.
Over the last couple of decades, however, coaches have grown more and more aggressive with pulling the goaltender. They’ve gone with an extra attacker earlier and earlier in the third period to give their team a greater chance of a comeback, to the extreme of Patrick Roy pulling the goaltender with over ten minutes to play on multiple occasions.
There’s a method to Roy’s madness, however, as he looks for situations where a comeback feels possible, if unlikely. His good friend and former teammate, Adam Foote, on the other hand, regularly pulls his goaltender for the extra attacker when there’s no hope for a comeback whatsoever.
The Vancouver Canucks have now spent 81 minutes with their net empty this season. That’s the fourth-most minutes any NHL team has spent with an empty net since 2007.
The only team that has spent more time with their net empty this season is the New York Islanders, who were coached by Roy up until earlier this week.
The Islanders spending that much time with the goaltender pulled makes some sense, as they’re locked in a pitched battle to make the playoffs. They have a razor-thin minus-one goal differential this season, as they’ve been in a ton of tight games.
Combine that with Roy’s penchant for pulling goaltenders with plenty of time remaining, and of course they’ve spent a lot of time with an empty net.
The Canucks are not in the same situation. They’re not desperately battling for points. There was no need for Foote to pull Nikita Tolopilo with 3:42 remaining in regulation while down by three goals on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings. I can’t imagine this season’s Canucks scoring three goals in under four minutes. Like fetch, it’s not going to happen.
I don’t know what Foote is thinking by constantly doing this. Is it about culture? Is this some sort of “never give up, never surrender” thing? Is he trying to show the Canucks’ young talent that it ain’t over ‘til it’s over?
If that’s the message, I’m not sure it’s landing. Because it’s over. It’s been over. You can’t make it less over.
Right now, the message seems to be, “Pulling the goaltender for the extra attacker mostly doesn’t work, especially when you’re down by three goals, so stop trying.”
It remained over when I watched this game.
The Kings opened the scoring early when Linus Karlsson got caught puck-watching and lost sight of Adrian Kempe. Considering he leads the Kings in scoring, Kempe is worth keeping an eye on — two of them, if possible — and made Karlsson pay by slipping into the slot and finishing off a pass from Brandt Clarke.
Marcus Pettersson tied things up later in the first period, blasting a slap shot past Anton Forsberg after a massive windup worthy of Juan Marichal. The windup, however, was a fake, as he sent the puck intentionally wide, looking for a tip from a teammate, but instead got a deflection off an opponent, as the puck went in off Brian Dumoulin’s skate.
Marco Rossi deserves a lot of credit for the goal. He’s the one who jarred the puck free on the forecheck, then went hard to the net, taking Dumoulin with him to cause the deflection. Sadly, Rossi didn’t end up with a point: Liam Öhgren picked up the loose puck off his forecheck and fed Brock Boeser, who relayed the puck to Pettersson. But I’ll give him a tertiary point in my heart.
Boeser’s assist was a major milestone, as he passed Pavel Bure for eighth all-time in franchise scoring. At this point, he and Elias Pettersson, who is seventh, are surrounded by players whose numbers the Canucks have retired.
The Canucks didn’t get to enjoy the tie game for long. About a minute-and-a-half later, Joel Armia made it 2-1. Jake DeBrusk got tripped in the neutral zone, turning the puck over, and the Kings went on the attack. With Scott Laughton driving Hronek back, Armia had all kinds of space to pick his spot on Nikita Tolopilo.
Adam Foote felt his team had a strong second period; I was less impressed. Sure, the Canucks didn’t give up a brace of goals, but they were still outshot 12-to-9 and gave up some quality chances. Eventually, some unrelenting Kings pressure in the offensive zone led to the 3-1 goal, with Kempe shaking free from Marcus Pettersson to tip in a Joel Edmundson slap-pass.
The Kings added one more goal in the third period. Tom Willander and Elias Pettersson (D) seemed to get lost in their defensive zone coverage when Jake DeBrusk couldn’t clear the puck, almost as if they’re not being coached particularly well. Alex Laferriere sent the puck to the open man in front, Trevor Moore, and Pettersson accidentally tipped the pass into his own net as he tried to get back defensively.
The goal was initially credited to Laferriere, which would have been his 20th of the season and a new career high. That’s why Moore grabbed the puck, not because he wanted to document the fourth goal in a 4-1 win over the last-place team in the league. But, upon further review, the puck gently brushed Moore’s stick after Pettersson tipped it, and it was Moore’s 12th goal of the season, with no deeper meaning. But now he’s got the puck.
Despite the score, there were some strong performances from the Canucks. The fourth line of Nils Höglander, Aatu Räty, and Curtis Douglas had some strong shifts and forechecked well. The Canucks outshot the Kings 7-to-2 when Räty was on the ice, despite having a below-average night in the faceoff circle at 7-for-17.
Filip Hronek and Zeev Buium looked good as a top defence pairing, with Buium taking advantage of Hronek’s steadiness to freelance a little bit in the offensive zone. He frequently activated off the point and used his mobility to draw a couple of penalties that the referees somehow missed. It’s okay, Buium, I called the penalties from my couch, so they still count.
I don’t know what else to say about this game. It happened. It’s over. Four games left. Only one of them is against the Kings.
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