Matt Murray’s cheating scandal gets explained and it makes sense!

Matt Murray is not the only goalie that has knocked the net off the pegs. However, he was the only one that’s been trending because of it, especially last week when it happened several times last Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils, and three more times against the Minnesota Wild on Friday. Murray’s action quickly enraged fans on social media, who commented how the netminder attempted to make it seems like an accident, when it has happened too many times to have him innocent…

The knocking of the net has been a recurring issue in the NHL, enough that NHL GMs discussed it at their latest round of meetings. However, if you’ve been or are a goalie, there is apparently a very clean explanation to what causes the nets to come off and it has nothing to do cheating.

Former goalie and now analyst for Daily Face-Off Mike McKenna explained on the Jeff Marek Show how most people do not believe goalies when nets come off the moorings. But this is what they should know:

“Goalies are not knocking these posts off on purpose. Has it happened previously in the NHL? Absolutely, some goalie have knocked the net off on purpose, I am sure of that. But what’s happening right now if that goaltending has outpaced the peg technology that holds the nets on.”

McKenna pointed out how on Monday night’s the same thing happened to Edmonton Oilers’ Stuart Skinner, though he was not dragged through the mud like Murray has been recently.

“What happens if that when the peg is compromised, when it sits too high in the hole in the cavity of the ice … the nets are coming off easy. And there is no standards on how to put the nets on.”

McKenna then added this about the Maple Leafs’ netminder specifically.

“Everybody knows that he’s been hard on his posts. And I really do think he’s going to have to adapt unfortunately. He will in some instances have to think ‘man I might knock it off here’. The problem though is that it’s taking away the goalie’s game and how they have played. If they don’t fix the pegs and find a solution in the NHL to keep the pegs in place and not pop out, to keep them down in the hole, I think we’re going to see this more and more often.”

However, the NHL is looking into a potential new rule when it comes to these incidents. Darren Dreger commented on last night’s Insider Trading on TSN about the league considering new rules for netminders and them purposely moving the nets. This was his update:

“The officials are likely going to be reminded, ‘look, recognize the play. Warn the goaltender if it’s close. If he does it again, give a penalty.’ The belief is if they call a delay of game, that’ll stop.”

Let’s see if Murray gets more penalized than others if officials start giving minors for delay of game…