The Ottawa Senators had the busiest two goaltenders in the NHL on Monday night. In the second period of Ottawa’s 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Linus Ullmark, backup goaltender for the evening, had to replace starter Anton Forsberg twice within six minutes.
Forsberg, making his fifth start of the season, was forced to leave the game due to an issue with his skate blade at the 17:08 mark of the period. Ullmark relieved him for just 17 seconds, making two saves during his short stint in net before Forsberg returned.
However, Forsberg’s return was short-lived. His skate issue reappeared after just 1:28 on the ice, and Ullmark was called into action again. This second stint lasted longer, 4:29, but Ullmark did not need to make any saves before Forsberg eventually took to the Senators’ cage for a third time in one night.
The goalie carousel was in full swing for the Sens tonight in the 2nd period 🫨😅 pic.twitter.com/izTHNvQMO2
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 28, 2024
One of the Ullmark-for-Forsberg swaps occurred after the Senators had iced the puck, bringing into question something that isn’t entirely defined in the NHL rulebook. Should teams be allowed to make a goaltending change at an icing if the goaltender coming off is not injured or has no equipment issue?
NHL rule 81.4 reads as follows:
81.4 Line Change on Icing – A team that is in violation of this rule shall not be permitted to make any player substitutions prior to the ensuing face-off. However, a team shall be permitted to make a player substitution to replace a goalkeeper who had been substituted for an extra attacker, to replace an injured player, or when a penalty has been assessed which affects the on-ice strength of either team. The determination of players on ice will be made when the puck leaves the offending player’s stick.
The exact wording in the rule allowing for the change of goaltenders at an icing does not meet the context of Sunday night’s game when the change occurred. Ullmark had not been substituted for an extra attacker, was not injured, nor was a penalty being called.
Confusion struck even the Avalanche’s Altitude Sports broadcast crew, Marc Moser and Mark Rycroft.
“Are they allowed to change goalies on an icing?” Moser asked. “I’m not sure they are. You see some things you’ve never seen before, right?”
“I’m missing something,” Rycroft said. “Usually, I catch everything. I’m real sharp like that, but I’m a little off on this one.”
“Me too,” Moser said. “I don’t know why the Sens would be able to put Forsberg back in. I’m trying to think of any new rules that have come in.”
Goaltenders can change on the fly like any other skater in the NHL, although that is rarely done. The most famous example is when Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Scotty Bowman switched goaltenders Wendell Young and Ken Wregget every five minutes during an April 16, 1992, game against the New York Rangers to get them both ready for the playoffs.
Given that they can change like normal skaters, under the current wording of the rule, Ottawa likely should not have been allowed to swap Ullmark out for Forsberg at that particular stage of the game.
Colorado wasn’t affected by it, though. They found the net behind Forsberg four times and then added an empty netter to seal the 5-4 win.
