“Does it matter?”

That was the refrain of Leafs coach Mike Babcock after his team won two coach’s challenges in a row after goals had been scored on offside plays that had been missed, but lost the game anyway.

To his credit, he kept up the refrain the very next game, when the Leafs had a goal called back on an offside and won the game anyway. What seemed galling to Babcock, and others, is that the offside call had little to do with the goal.

“An offside that you miss by a fraction of an inch that caused a goal, a goal that had nothing really to do with being offside, does it matter?” Babcock asked. “I don’t know if it matters. Should those two goals that we called back really count? I thought they were good plays. I thought they should count. That’s just me.”

Players and coaches around the NHL are questioning whether the coach’s challenge — reviewing goals when the play might have been offside, or goals where the goalie might have been interfered with — is working.

“There’s a few (challenges) you throw out there you’re not betting your life on,” said Carolina coach Bill Peters. “If it gets the call right, I think it’s good. “There are a lot of times too you don’t know which way it’s going to go. You watch some of the reviews, it goes one way or another, and half the room goes: ‘I can’t believe that’s a goal.’

“On the offside, we’re getting down to: ‘Is his foot in the air? Is the toe of his skate touching?’ ”

The rule will be reviewed by the board of governors in March, but it’s reviewed almost nightly in the NHL, a league starved for goals. There’s a feeling the coach’s challenge has changed the game in slight ways.

Coaches worry that linesmen are letting close calls go at the blue line, knowing that if it was offside, the goal can easily be called back. Some complain the review — on especially close plays — slows the game down, especially for the team that thinks it scored.

Goalies, too, see the play in front of them changing.

“I feel like guys are almost taking advantage of crashing the net more,” Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier said. “Or the defence is pushing the guy into the goalie. I feel like there’s more contact this year because of (the review).

“It’s good and bad. I think it slows down the game quite a bit, but it saves a few goals, too.”

It’s doubtful the challenge will be rescinded; everyone likes the idea of good goals counting. But it might get tweaked. Might there be a statute of limitations — seven seconds, say — between a missed offside call and a goal? Or maybe the offside rule might be changed so that skates over the blue line count as much as skates on the blue line.

The Flyers lost two challenges in one game. On one, the opposition goalie was messed with and a Flyers goal was called back. On the other, their goalie was messed with, and the goal stood. Confusion all around.

“The game of hockey is imperfect,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “Those calls are going to end up being imperfect. That’s how I approach it.”

Stamkos stays silent: Neither Steve Stamkos nor Steve Yzerman are saying anything about a reported contract extension. Sportsnet reported the Lightning offered their captain an eight-year deal worth an average salary of $8.5 million. “I’m not going to comment on that,” Stamkos told the Tampa Bay Times. “We haven’t talked about that stuff in the media all season long, and I don’t know how they get a hold of stuff like that. All the things that we’ve talked about, it’s staying internally, and it’ll continue to be that way.” Stamkos has a no-movement clause and could be the biggest name ever to hit the free-agent market on July 1.

Cleared for contact: Bakersfield, Calif., is about to become a hockey hotbed. Oilers centre Connor McDavid, who has been cleared for full contact, with report to Edmonton’s top farm team, where he will practise but not participate in games. “It feels like a long time,” McDavid told NHL.com. “These last couple of weeks have been probably the longest, when you feel so good you want to play. But I’m being patient with it. Hopefully the patience is rewarded at the end.” McDavid had five goals and seven assists in 13 games before breaking his collarbone. He participated in Edmonton’s skills competition over the weekend. “I couldn’t be more excited to come back,” he said

Keeping up with Jones: Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella is pleased to have 21-year-old defenceman Seth Jones. “I think he’s going to be a real calming influence. He’s a low-maintenance quiet kid, but a confident kid. I watch his ability to get up the ice and his puck-handling ability, and passing ability. That’s a good deal for this club. For right now and for the future. We’re ecstatic.” Jones hasn’t played fewer than 22 minutes since coming to Columbus, and got as high as 27 minutes against Boston. Jones rarely got over the 20-minute mark when was in Nashville.

Breaking up the Schenns: Flyers winger Brayden Schenn finds it a bit ironic that his brother, ex-Leaf Luke, got traded to the team he was traded from: the Los Angeles Kings. The brothers have played together since the 2013 season, living in the same condo building and sharing rides to and from practice and games. “It was tough at first. The situation is right for Luke in L.A., it’s a good fit for him there. Out there, it’s his type of hockey, big-body hockey. He’s playing pretty well.” The brothers were close. Dinners at home together, dinners on the road, texting all the time. “We were very lucky to play on the same team here in Philly. You don’t know how lucky you have it until it’s taken away.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

A green blue line: The Carolina Hurricanes are bucking the norm by having three rookie defenceman in their lineup. All play regularly. In addition to Noah Hanifin, the fifth overall pick last June, the ’Canes have 21-year-old Brett Pesce (a third-rounder from the 2013 draft) and 21-year-old Jaccob Slavin, (a fourth-rounder from the 2012 draft). “It’s interesting to watch,” said ’Canes coach Bill Peters. “They’re all good players. They’re big guys. They skate well. They move the puck. They play the modern game. They’re involved in the transition. At the same time, there are growing pains. They know if they make a mistake, they’re going right back out there. They’ve gotten better as the season has gone along.”

Colourful Campbell: Some of the 300,000 documents totalling 2.5 million pages have been ordered released by the judge overseeing a lawsuit launched by former players against the NHL. One email chain in particular ordered released, involving NHL executive Colin Campbell, could be embarrassing to the league for the language used by Campbell, described in court as “colorful, crusty and sometimes crude.” As an example, in an email, Campbell refers to the Ottawa Senators’ athletic therapist as a “freaking idiot!” after the trainer laid out suggestions regarding the prevention and treatment of concussions. The judge also noted several “unthoughtful and unkind” passages in Campbell’s emails. The date for the release has not been set.

Quick hits: Funny how a team not in a playoff spot had no room for Vincent Lecavalier, but one that could be Cup contender does . . . The Blues and centre David Backes are discussing a contract extension. Backes is due to become a free agent July 1 . . . Evgeni Malkin picked up his 10th career hat trick, tying him with Kevin Stevens for second in Penguins history. The leader? Mario Lemieux, with 40 . . . Former Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson, now in Boston, is 4-1-0 in his last five outings and 9-3-1 overall (2.29 GAA, .917 save percentage) . . . Following weekend games, four points separated second place from sixth place in the Atlantic Division. Five points separated second from sixth in the Metropolitan . . . Penguins captain Sidney Crosby stretched his points streak to a season-high six games (four goals, five assists) . . . Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has an eight-game points streak (six goals, five assists).

Read more about: