Where the blame should fall for Islanders’ goalie interference debacle

You can defend the NHL’s upholding of goaltender interference against Kyle Palmieri on Monday night, but only by conceding that the Situation Room has screwed up multiple other occasions involving the Islanders this year, including within the past week.

Or you can defend those other calls and concede that the Islanders got jobbed Monday.

You can’t do both, at least not without beclowning yourself the way the NHL has in its enforcement and interpretation of Rule 69 for years on end.

The stated justification by referee Michael Markovic to Palmieri on the ice after his go-ahead goal in the dying seconds of regulation against the Blue Jackets was waved off — and in the NHL’s official explanation of the call — cited Rule 69.1, reading in part, “Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either in his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal.”