With the Sharks up 3-0, it looked like the Ducks finally got on the board. The puck was in the net and Ducks forward Corey Perry was celebrating.
The whistle blew long after the puck was in… but referee Kyle Rehman, who’d lost sight of the puck, intended to blow the play dead.
From the NHL’s Situation Room:
At 5:06 of the third period in the Ducks/Sharks game, the Situation Room initiated video review because the puck entered the San Jose net. The referee informed the situation room that he had blown his whistle to stop play prior to the puck entering the net, therefore this is not a reviewable play.
According to Rule 78.5 (xii): “Apparent goals shall be disallowed by the Referee when the referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle.”
No goal Anaheim.
Intent to blow isn’t a reviewable play. If the referee claims he was in the process of blowing the whistle, then the play is dead. There’s nothing replay can show that would overturn it. It’s happened a handful of times recently where similar situations on non-reviewable plays have gone up to Toronto. It looks like the officials may be doing their best to appease the teams and fans by going to review on controversial goal calls even when the call itself – in this case, intent to blow – is not reviewable.
Interesting…
