Martin Brodeur was at the opposite end of the ice when New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist went to the back of the net to play the puck.
It's a move Brodeur has made thousands of times in his brilliant career. It's also a move that is now illegal in the new National Hockey League.
Lundqvist found out the hard way when the whistle blew during this week's preseason game and he was called for delay of game.
PHOTO: AFP
Brodeur and others such as Dallas' Marty Turco had become so adept at intercepting dump-in passes and getting pucks out of the defensive zone that the NHL targeted goalies in a crusade to increase scoring.
Lundqvist strayed outside the trapezoidal area behind the net to get a puck that he is now forbidden to play.
That is a facet of the game Brodeur mastered as he emerged as the North American league's best goalie. Not only could he stop the puck, but he acted as a third defenseman on a team that rode stingy defense to three championships in the previous 10 seasons.
First the league mandated the reduction of the size of goaltending equipment, then took aim at the players themselves. If you can't beat them, limit what they can do.
"I'm not really troubled about it," said Brodeur, the Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL's top goalie the past two seasons. "It's a skill that I worked all my life ... and it's been taken away. So definitely that's kind of tough to take.
"But on the other hand, we're going to have to adjust, and the better goalies will be able to make that adjustment and make it work for themselves."
Goalies will be most affected by the significant changes to the rule book as the NHL returns following a lost year to the lockout with every intention of picking up the pace of the game and generating more excitement.
If the shrinking equipment and the small area behind the goal line where netminders now can play the puck weren't bad enough, now goalies also have to worry about flying forwards that in theory will have a lot more room to skate.
Again the NHL vows to rid the game of interference and obstruction caused by needless hooking and holding. The league says there will be a zero-tolerance policy, and is committed to the premise that skill players will be able to show off their talents.
"I think if it's not going to be this year, it's never going to happen," said new Ottawa forward Dany Heatley. "There's a lot of talk. I think it's now or never for everybody. We want to get the game going, get the game growing, and I think this is a big part of it."
More space and the elimination of the center red line to allow for what were outlawed two-line passes should open things up.
The exhibition season has been filled with penalty-laden games. There were 37 penalties called in a recent game between Montreal and Atlanta, and another 26 infractions whistled when Ottawa played Toronto.
Additionally, teams called for icing will not be allowed to change their on-ice personnel before the ensuing draw in the defensive zone. So firing the puck down the ice will no longer be a cure for tired legs.
Fatigue might turn into goals.
And if fans aren't satisfied with enough scoring during 60 minutes of regulation and the next five in overtime in case of a deadlock, then they can stick around for the latest gimmick -- a penalty shootout to eliminate tie games.
Penalty shots have been called the most exciting play in the game, and now the one-on-one showdown between skater and goalie will decide winners and losers throughout the regular season.
Ties are gone and ice hockey purists are shuddering across North America.
But if the changes increase interest and attention for a sport that was craving it long before the NHL wiped out a full season, it might turn out to be worth it.
"It's the new NHL, so time will tell how everything pans out as far as the rules and all those things go," Dallas' Mike Modano said. "If it goes the way they plan, it could be a fun year."
Dan Fritsche had two goals and Trevor Letowski and Mark Hartigan also scored to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
The Blue Jackets, with most of the players on the roster battling flu, had lost their last two games this week by a combined score of 16-2 -- 9-0 at Detroit and 7-2 at Pittsburgh.
David Vyborny had two assists for the Blue Jackets, while Letowski also had an assist.
Marc Denis had 28 saves for Chicago. Michael Leighton stopped 10 of 12 shots and Anderson seven of nine for Columbus.
Capitals 4, Penguins 3
At Washington, rookie Alex Ovechkin had three goals and an assist to lead Washington over Pittsburgh.
Ovechkin, the first player selected in the 2004 NHL draft, scored an unassisted short-handed goal that gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead early in the third period.
Sidney Crosby, the first overall pick in 2005 by the Penguins, did not play.
Maxime Oullet stopped 18 shots for Washington, while Sebastien Caron made 38 saves for Pittsburgh.
Thrashers 3, Predators 2
At Atlanta, Bobby Holik scored the deciding goal on a power play with 6:33 remaining, and Jaroslav Modry had two assists as Atlanta beat Nashville to close the preseason with three straight wins.
Modry's offense helped compensate for his double-minor penalty that led to Andy Hall's missed penalty shot 4:17 into the game. After Modry was charged with interference and hooking and knocked him to the ice, Hall fired a penalty shot that sailed right of the net.
Simon Gamache had two assists for the Predators, who have lost three of four and end the exhibition season Sunday at Columbus.
Sabres 5, Wild 3
At Rochester, New York, Chris Drury scored two goals and set up another, leading Buffalo to a win over Minnesota in the preseason finale for both teams.
Jochen Hecht and Maxim Afinogenov had a goal and two assists each, and Ales Kotalik also scored for Buffalo, which capitalized on three of 10 power-play chances. The Sabres finished the preseason with a 6-2-0 record, their best since going 7-1 in 2000.
Wes Walz, on a penalty shot, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Brent Burns scored for Minnesota (3-3-1).
Maple Leafs 4, Red Wings 3
At Detroit, Mats Sundin had a goal and an assist to lift Toronto over Detroit. Sundin, on the power play, and Jeff O'Neill scored in the first period for a 2-0 Toronto lead. Matt Stajan added a shorthanded goal for the Maple Leafs and Carlo Colaiacovo scored with the teams even.
Brendan Shanahan and Mathieu Schneider scored power-play goals for Detroit, while Kirk Maltby also scored for the Red Wings. Robert Lang added two assists for Detroit.
Toronto went 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Red Wings were 2-of-11.
Ed Belfour made 35 saves for Toronto and Manny Legace had 25.
Hurricanes 5, Lightning 2
At Tampa, Florida, Rod Brind'Amour and Josef Vasicek scored 51 seconds apart in the third period to lead Carolina past Tampa Bay.
Brind'Amour made it 3-2 on a power-play goal with 12:31 left. Vasicek followed with his team-leading sixth preseason goal, then added his seventh with 1:10 to go.
Canucks 4, Flames 2
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Daniel Sedin scored two goals and Alex Auld stopped 28 shots to lead Vancouver Canucks over Calgary.
Markus Naslund and Lee Goren also scored for Vancouver, which won its second straight after going 0-2-2 in its first four preseason games.
Jarome Iginla and Jordan Leopold scored for the Flames, who finished the preseason 4-3-1.
Goren opened the scoring on a long wrist shot 3 minutes in. Leopold tied it on a screened power-play point shot 13:11 into the second period.
Mighty Ducks 5, Kings 4
At Anaheim, California, Sergei Fedorov and Joffrey Lupul each had two goals and two assists and Todd Fedoruk had three assists as Anaheim beat Los Angeles.
Pavol Demitra scored twice for the Kings (4-3-1), who despite the loss completed their preseason schedule with a winning record for the 16th straight year -- a streak that was interrupted by last season's lockout. Eric Belanger and Tom Kostopoulos also scored for Los Angeles.
Andy McDonald had a third-period goal for the Ducks.
Sharks 2, Coyotes 1
At San Jose, Patrick Marleau scored with 6 1/2 minutes to play to give San Jose a win and hand coach Wayne Gretzky's Phoenix their sixth straight preseason loss.
Marleau broke the tie when he tapped in a wrist shot about three meters from the goal.
The Sharks (6-0-0) finished with an undefeated exhibition record for the first time in franchise history.
The Coyotes (1-6-0) play their last exhibition game at home on Saturday against Anaheim.
Marco Sturm scored San Jose's first goal early in the first period when he took a pass from Marleau and caught Phoenix's goalie David LeNevue leaning the other way.
The Coyotes tied it 12:30 of the second after being held scoreless over 91 minutes by goalies Vesa Toskala and Evgeni Nabokov. Toskala shut out the Coyotes 1-0 on Wednesday in Phoenix.
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