Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane thought he had given his team the lead. Instead, a discussion and a review soon left them shorthanded. From good goal to no goal to a penalty for a failed Coach’s Challenge, how the Edmonton Oilers lost a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The controversial no-goal came with 4:07 remaining in the second period, the game tied 3-3. Edmonton’s Evander Kane was battling with Seth Jones in front of the net when the two players collided with Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock.
The netminder was knocked to the ice as play continued. Stalock was able to get back to his feet – without his goal stick – in time to stop a point shot from Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse, but Kane was there to put in the rebound.
Referee Jon McIsaac pointed to the net, signaling a goal on the play. After a discussion between the four on-ice officials, the goal was disallowed due to goaltender interference. Officials don’t have the benefit of replay, but can confer to discuss the play to confirm or adjust their call on the ice, which they did in this case.
With the ruling of no goal on the ice, Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft opted to challenge.
After a few minutes, referee Jon McIsaac broke the news: No goal.
Here’s the official ruling from the NHL’s Situation Room:
After originally signaling a goal, the on-ice officials huddled and changed their call to “no goal”.
Video review supported the call on the ice that the actions of Edmonton’s Evander Kane impaired the ability of Chicago goaltender Alex Stalock to play his position. The decision was made in accordance with Rule 69.1, which states in part, “Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal.”
Replays appeared to show that Jones used his stick to push Kane into the goaltender. Rule 69.1 covers that:
If an attacking player has been pushed, shoved, or fouled by a defending player so as to cause him to come into contact with the goalkeeper, such contact will not be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player for purposes of this rule, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact.
For the officials and Situation Room to rule this goaltender interference, they would have had to determine that Kane was responsible for the contact, or that he did not make a reasonable effort to avoid contact.
ESPN’s Dave Jackson explained why that was the correct call.
“Jones did not throw Kane onto goalie as announcer suggests. He tied him up and Kane had nowhere to go. Kane uses his free hand, grabs Jones stick and falls onto goalie. Accidentally or not, he ran out of real estate and prevented Stalock from doing his job. It’s textbook no goal based on league’s interpretations.”
“To blame the refs for making a call that is upheld by the situation room is wrong.”
Edmonton was issued a minor delay-of-game penalty for the failed challenge. A frustrated Kane picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty 22 seconds later. Chicago scored on the ensuing 5-on-3 to take the lead.
The Oilers and Blackhawks combined for 40 penalty minutes in the game. Chicago went 2-for-10 on the power play, while the Oilers were 3-for-7.
Kane led the way, with two cross-checking minors and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, along with the goaltender interference which wasn’t enough to justify a penalty but sufficient to disallow an Oilers goal.
The Edmonton winger redeemed himself by assisting on Leon Draisaitl’s game-winning goal with 38 seconds remaining in the third period.
“There was a lot of adversity tonight,” said Kane, without directly referencing the disallowed goal. “Credit to all the guys for sticking together and battling to the very end.”
Hawks/Oilers racked up the third-highest penalty minutes so far this season, trailing only Canucks/Kraken (42 PIM) and Wild/Senators (42 PIM). All three of those games were played on October 27.
“We did a good job on the penalty kill at times,” said Chicago head coach Luke Richardson. “But if you take that many penalties, special players in the league like [Connor] McDavid and [Leon] Draisaitl are going to make you pay.”
Referees for the game were Jon McIsaac (#2) and Chris Rooney (#5), skating alongside linesmen Libor Suchanek (#60) and Bryan Pancich (#94).
