Man, would the Pittsburgh Penguins love to have this one back. So would the officials.
After the Penguins put the puck in their own net while shorthanded, the referees made a critical mistake of their own.
Pittsburgh was skating shorthanded against the Coyotes when a delayed penalty was called on Arizona. As the Pens had possession, they pulled goaltender Tristan Jarry for an extra skater.
Defensman Kris Letang circled back into his own zone. He moved the puck to Evgeni Malkin who misplayed it, deflecting the puck into his own net.
It was ugly, but it counted. The goal was scored as a power play marker credited to Arizona’s Lawson Crouse – the last opposing player to touch the puck.
That wasn’t the problem, though. The issue is what happened next.
With the goal scored on the power play, the penalty to Pittsburgh Penguins winger Jansen Harkins should’ve been immediately terminated. The delayed call – to Coyotes forward Jason Zucker for hooking – would be assessed at the time of the goal, since that was the reason for the stoppage in play. Simple.
That’s not what happened.
Instead, Harkins stayed in the box. That’s right – the Coyotes scored a power play goal, yet Harkins continued to serve time. Zucker went to the box as well, putting the teams at 4-on-4 for 48 seconds.
The Penguins did end up with a power play, but for only 1:12 — not the full two minutes they deserved on this play.
Referees Peter MacDougall and Michael Markovic missed it. The penalty box attendant missed it. The timekeeper missed it. The league didn’t buzz down to correct the call. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan dropped the ball on getting his guy out. Heck, even Harkins missed the fact that his team gave up a goal while shorthanded and he was still stuck in the box.
Unfortunately, it looked like everyone simply saw five skaters out there for each team at the time of the whistle, thought it was even strength, and just dropped the puck to play on.
The Arizona Coyotes went on to win the game 5-3 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Referees for the game were Peter MacDougall (#38) and Michael Markovic (#31); linespersons were Michel Cormier (#76) and Kilian McNamara (#93).
