Nashville Predators’ Filip Forsberg got away with one, closing his hand on the puck and tossing it into the crease, leading to a Preds’ goal against the Calgary Flames.

Forsberg backhanded a shot on net that was stopped by goaltender Jacob Markstrom. The Preds winger gloved the rebound out of the air, throwing it over the net and into the crease.  Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar batted it out of the blue paint. The puck ended up on the stick of Nashville’s Alexandre Carrier, who fired it into the net to give the Predators a 3-1 lead.

Players are allowed to bat the puck out of the air, per Rule 79.1:

A player shall be permitted to stop or “bat” a puck in the air with his open hand, or push it along the ice with his hand, and the play shall not be stopped unless, in the opinion of the on-ice officials, he has directed the puck to a teammate, or has allowed his team to gain an advantage, and subsequently possession and control of the puck is obtained by a player of the offending team, either directly or deflected off any player or official.

What a player can’t do, though – what Forsberg did – is close their hand on the puck and throw it. From 67.2:

A player shall be permitted to catch the puck out of the air but must immediately place it or knock it down to the ice. A player shall be assessed a minor penalty for “closing his hand on the puck” … if he catches it and skates with it, either to avoid a check or to gain a territorial advantage over his opponent

Forsberg appears to grab it, take one stride, and then throw it in the direction of the goal crease.  It’s clearly not just batted out of the air on this play.

The Flames challenged the goal, citing a missed stoppage on the play under Rule 38.2: 

A play that results in a “GOAL” call on the ice where the defending team claims that the play should have been stopped by reason of any play occurring in the offensive zone that should have resulted in a play stoppage caused by the attacking team but did not.

A missed hand pass is clearly covered in the plays eligible for a coach’s challenge. From Rule 38.10: 

The standard for overturning the call in the event of a “GOAL” call on the ice is that the NHL Situation Room, after reviewing any and all available replays and consulting with the On-Ice Official(s), determines that the play should have been stopped but was not at some point after the puck entered the attacking zone but prior to the goal being scored; where this standard is met, the goal will be disallowed.

There was no missed stoppage on the play… because there was no hand pass. 

If Weegar hadn’t played that puck and the Preds were next to touch it, the goal clearly could have been overturned for a hand pass. Once the Flames played it, though, the hand pass was negated. 

While there wasn’t a missed stoppage, there was a missed call: Forsberg closing his hand on the puck.  That, unfortunately, is not eligible for video review. You can’t use replay to look for a missed call. 

A missed penalty doesn’t count as a missed stoppage. Also from Rule 38.10:

Where the infraction at issue was a missed penalty call subject to the judgment or discretion of the On-Ice Official(s), such infraction cannot result in the “GOAL” call on the ice being overturned, even if upon review, the On-Ice Official(s) would have made a different call.

 

This was clearly a rough game for Weegar, who also picked up a penalty and prompted a penalty shot on the same shift. 

Officials for the game were referees Dan O’Rourke (#9) and Cody Beach (#45), with linesmen Tyson Baker (#88) and Julien Fournier (#56).