Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

Optimism was probably oozing out of the cracks on the cobblestone streets in Montreal as soon as the siren sounded inside the Bell Centre Tuesday to finalize a 7-4 win for the Canadiens over the New York Rangers, trimming their deficit to 3-2 in the Eastern Conference finals.

Their offense soared, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist looked human and just that morning their injured No. 1 goalie Carey Price returned to the practice ice in full equipment.

Suddenly, the panic that set in once Price was bowled over in Game 1 by Rangers winger Chris Kreider and ruled out for the remainder of the series with an apparent knee injury is dormant.

But if the Canadiens or their fans are expecting Price to swoop in as a savior at some point, maybe they should consider this: Coyotes goalie Mike Smith also hurt his knee when a Rangers player, Derick Brassard in Smith's case, toppled over him. Smith was dealing with an MCL sprain and although medically cleared by doctors, he still felt achiness in his right knee when he swung his leg out of bed until about a week ago.

Smith was injured March 24.

It could be more likely, then, that if the Canadiens fail in their bid to advance, the loss of Price instigates some type of change in the way goaltenders are protected.

At the very least, the injury is expected to ignite conversation among the general managers when they convene during the Stanley Cup final, and video review could be floated out as a way to better vet collisions.

For goaltenders, past and present, the discussion is well overdue.

"We need to address this so that it doesn't continue the way it's going," said Darren Pang, former goalie and current analyst for Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports Midwest.

Many goalies expect some contact, with players in front jostling for space or a hasty stop by an opposing forward. But the carelessness with which some players attack the crease is of concern.

The fear of driving the net is no longer there, Pang said. The creases are smaller than they used to be, allowing more players to post up, and the pegs that anchor the posts are easily knocked ajar — a stark contrast from previous generations when they were fitted so tight that players crashing into the net sometimes suffered serious injury.

But that fear can be reignited with the threat of a harsher penalty.

"They really solidified that in football when they brought in the rule of roughing the passer, and it's a huge penalty for your team when that happens," Smith said. "I personally don't think the penalty is severe enough for a goaltender interference call."

Perhaps a four-minute penalty is more fitting, a concept the International Ice Hockey Federation is considering. Coyotes goalie coach Sean Burke wants the punishment to fit the crime so if an unsuspecting goaltender is blindsided, suspension could be an option.

"Once a rule is in place, whether it's you come through the crease from an angle with speed and you run through the goalie, you run the risk of a suspension," Burke said. "Obviously more players will be cognizant of that, and you'll take some of that out of the game."

But that, too, will have ramifications. Aside from worrying about embellishment on the part of the goalies, offense could be diminished.

"Is that fewer goals? Is that less traffic? Is that a more boring game?" said Mike Johnson, a former NHL forward for more than 650 games and current analyst for TSN and the NHL Network. "You don't want to do anything to discourage action around the net and goal scoring because it's hard enough as it is."

No one, it seems, wants sweeping changes that slow the game down and make it clunky. But it's clear something should be done to keep pace with the evolution of forwards.

"With the speed and strength and size in our game, are we doing enough to avoid the contact with the goaltender?" Pang said.

The answer to that isn't obvious, but that doesn't mean the question shouldn't be asked.

Reach The Heat Index at sarah.mclellan @arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.