Why the Ottawa Senators received rare penalty for face-off violations
NHL Rule 76.6 states consecutive violations lead to a minor penalty for the offending team
The Ottawa Senators were irate on Wednesday night when officials gave the team a bench minor penalty for consecutive face-off violations, a rule that is very rarely enforced.
With 11:26 left in the second period, Senators' centre Mika Zibanejad was tossed out of the faceoff draw. Then, Mike Hoffman stepped in and batted the puck out of the linesman's hand.
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Re Face off violation: It's hard to be aware of rules that are called very rarely, but yes we are aware of the rule <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcott?src=hash">#cbcott</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sens?src=hash">#Sens</a>
—@SeguinSportsThose two violations forced officials to decide whether to issue a minor penalty, or place the blame on the linesman for placing his hand too close to the players.
Rule 76.6 in the National Hockey League rule book states the following:
"When at least two face-off violations have been committed by the same team during the same face-off, this team shall be penalized with a bench minor penalty to the offending team. This penalty shall be announced as a "Bench Minor Penalty for Delay of Game – Face-off Violation."
There are four different types of face-off violations, which you can read here.
Face-off penalty last called in March
According to Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada, this penalty was called in March on Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers. The last time it was called in the playoffs came in May 2013 against Viktor Stalberg, then of the Chicago Blackhawks.
This is not a brand new rule, but one that is very rarely called.
Most often, a linesman will decide to place the blame on himself for a second violation, thus avoiding a minor penalty.
Retired referee Kerry Fraser did just that on Twitter, blaming him for not arranging an organized face off on both violation calls.
2'nd face off is a penalty BUT linesman responsible with organizing a fair face-off. Both face-offs looked suspect in players set-up.
—@kfraserthecallIf linesman doesn't believe HE conducted a fair face-off he can touch his chest, say "My Bad" & conduct a "do over" without penalty.
—@kfraserthecallAppeared as though Fleury threw his stick across the crease at the puck prior to OT winner.
—@kfraserthecallIn this case, the official decided Hoffman was to blame for whacking the puck out of his hand and the referees were forced to penalize the Senators.
Luckily for Ottawa, the Habs did not score on the ensuring power-play. The Sens then avoided the sweep thanks to a goal in the third period from none other than Hoffman.