Kate Shefte: Hockey's unwritten rules: Here's why you don't snow the goalie

"They take a lot of beating," the veteran defenseman said. "They should be able to give it back sometimes, too."

Which player it is plays a part in how Grubauer handles the situation. Same with Kraken defenseman Brian Dumoulin, who has played in the NHL for a decade and counting. He'll glance at the player number, sometimes, and note the agitators. That goes a long way in sussing out motive and guilt.

"If it's avoidable, obviously, there's no need to do it," Dumoulin said.

Infamous Boston Bruins pest Brad Marchand earned an unsportsmanlike penalty in Game 7 of a 2014 second-round series for giving Canadiens goalie Carey Price a cold blast to the face. His reputation probably didn't help him in that moment. Boston went on to lose that pivotal game 3-1.

Sometimes it's not really avoidable. A player gets cut off, maybe, and has nowhere else to go.

"I'd rather have them stop right in front of me and spray me a little bit than run me over," Grubauer said wryly.

In terms of treatment, Grubauer compared the hockey goalie to the football quarterback. He's vulnerable back there, well padded but stationary while some of the world's fastest skaters barrel in on him. He must be protected.

That goes for his spirit as well. Another unwritten hockey rule is that you don't fire the puck into the net after the whistle, or really any time it's undeserved. Part of it is pride with a dash of superstition — the goalie shouldn't have to fish the puck out of his net, even when it doesn't count. Teammates don't want him worrying about those extracurriculars.

Two superstitions came to a head in 1987 during a pregame brawl between the Philadelphia Flyers and Canadiens before a playoff game at the Montreal Forum. Montreal's Claude Lemieux and Shayne Corson had been firing pucks into the empty net at the end of warmups, toying with the Flyers' goalies, who had been turning the net around to prevent it. Flyers defenseman Ed Hospodar wearied of this and started pummeling Lemieux after the latest offense, and soon everyone spilled from the locker rooms onto the ice for nine-and-a-half minutes of fights.

There were no referees on the ice yet and no penalties were assessed because the game hadn't started, but there were $500 fines levied all around and Hospodar was suspended for the rest of the playoffs. Harsher league rules were instituted a few months later, intended to prevent multiplayer brawls.

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