Martin Gerber Ejected for Making Contact With Official

Toronto goalie Martin Gerber was ejected in the final minute of Tuesday's game with Washington for making contact with an official following a controversial goal. With the Maple Leafs leading, 2-1, there was a scrum in front of Gerber, resulting in Capitals forward Brooks Laich jamming a loose puck in for the game-tying goal.



As you can from the video, Gerber was livid, and responded by "making contact" with referee Mike Leggo, and then offering an additional shove to the linesman attempting to restrain him. Gerber was ejected and should be expecting a meeting with NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell in the coming days.

Earlier this season, Maple Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski was suspended three games for pushing a lineman following his attempted fight with Montreal's Sergei Kostitsyn.

This is the second goalie meltdown we've seen this week, as Providence Bruins netminder (and former Maple Leafs prospect) Tuukka Rask flipped out following a shootout in a minor league game on Saturday night.

As for the rest of the Tuesday's game, Curtis Joseph came off the bench in relief of Gerber and stood on his head, stopping all nine shots he faced through the remainder of regulation and overtime, helping lead Toronto to a 3-2 shootout win.

Having said all of that, does Gerber have a legitimate argument here, seeing as how Laich essentially pitch-forked him -- and the puck -- into the net? Probably not. Even if he does, that doesn't excuse the reaction. What happened to the good old days when people protested calls by telling the referee to have another donut?