This was a close one.

Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis opted not to challenge a possible offside on the Toronto Maple Leafs game-tying goal.

Toronto’s John Tavares carried the puck up the right wing, with William Nylander on his left as they entered the attacking zone.

Veteran linesman Michel Cormier, trailing the play, signaled the play onside.  Tavares moved to the net and passed across the slot, with Nylander scoring on a nifty backhand to tie the game at 3-3 with under two minutes remaining.

 

 

Take another look at that zone entry, though.  It’s a close one.

Nylander’s left skate is in the attacking zone with his trailing leg over the blueline. This would put him onside, based on the recent rule change that no longer requires contact with the blue line.

Of course, that’s only if his skate is still over the line at the moment the puck completely crosses the line.

The NHL’s dedicated blueline camera would come in handy here, providing a straight shot of the position of both the puck and Nylander’s right skate.

St-Louis called a timeout to rest his team and, presumably, give video coach Daniel Harvey additional time to review the play. Ultimately, the Habs decided not to challenge the call on the ice.

Retired NHL referee Tim Peel weighed in on that decision.

Montreal went on to win the game 4-3 on a late goal from Josh Anderson.

Referees were Jake Brenk (#26) and Dan O’Rourke (#9), with linesmen Michel Cormier (#76) and Libor Suchanek (#60).