The Florida Panthers simply couldn’t beat Tampa goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy on Monday night. Their best chance may have come off the helmet of linesman Scott Cherrey.
A shot from Anton Lundell deflected off linesman Scott Cherrey, nearly eluding Vasilevskiy. The Lightning netminder was able to deflect the puck with a last second poke check.
Not that it mattered.
Had the puck gone in, it wouldn’t have counted.
Officials are typically in play, but you can’t score a goal off one — just ask referee Tim Peel. From Rule 85.4:
Play shall not be stopped if the puck touches an official anywhere on the rink, regardless of whether a team is short-handed or not.
If a goal is scored as a result of being deflected directly into the net off an official, the goal shall not be allowed.
Heck of a save by Vasilevskiy on this shot — one of 49 on the night. One, though, that would’ve never counted.
Though there were two other goals scored tonight that also didn’t count.
