The Minnesota Wild defeated the Calgary Flames thanks to a controversial shootout goal from Mats Zuccarello.
The diminutive Wild winger opened the shootout with a simple deke. Flames goaltender Dan Vladar went for a poke check, contacting the puck, but not enough to prevent Zuccarello from sliding it in on the forehand.
Rule 24 covers penalty shots; the shootout follows the same procedure.
The puck must be kept in motion towards the opponent’s goal line and once it is shot, the play shall be considered complete.
No goal can be scored on a rebound of any kind (an exception being the puck off the goal post or crossbar, then the goalkeeper and then directly into the goal), and any time the puck crosses the goal line or comes to a complete stop, the shot shall be considered complete.
The NHL’s Situation Room reviewed the play, confirming the goal call on the ice.
The league ruled that Vladar’s poke check did not create a rebound, as there was no initial shot. Vladar’s stick hit the puck as Zuccarello was moving it laterally, not during a shot attempt. As a result, the puck was still live, and the goal was allowed.
“I thought I hit it with my paddle,” Vladar said after the game. “I thought I hit it. At that moment I was pretty confident that I hit it. It went back to him and went off his shin pads. Obviously, the guys with the cameras, they see better than I do.”
He’s not wrong. He did hit it. It just wasn’t a shot on goal. If Vladar does nothing there, the puck isn’t going into the net. It’s not until Zuccarello’s subsequent forehand push that the puck is directed on net.
To have a rebound, you need to have a shot.
Minnesota’s Matt Boldy won the shootout for the Wild in the fourth round, with goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopping Calgary’s Nazem Kadri to secure the victory.
Referees for the game were Francis Charron (#6) and Carter Sandlak (#29); linesmen were Shandor Alphonso (#52) and Jonathan Deschamps (#80).
