The New York Rangers won Game 2 in overtime after a possible high stick prior to the game-winning goal against the Florida Panthers was ineligible for video review.
Rangers captain Jacob Trouba flipped the puck up ice, where it was batted out of the air in the neutral zone by Barclay Goodrow. He moved the puck to Vincent Trocheck along the boards, who carried the puck into the Florida zone before returning the pass.
Goodrow fired the puck over the right shoulder of Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to give the Rangers a 2-1 overtime victory.
The Panthers’ bench immediately looked down at the video monitors for a possible offside or missed stoppage. At that point, though, there’s nothing head coach Paul Maurice can do.
All Coach’s Challenge-eligible plays in overtime are automatically reviewed by the league. The Situation Room will confirm no goaltender interference took place, the play was onside, and that there are no missed stoppages in the offensive zone.
Did you catch those last two words?
While teams are prohibited from playing the puck with a high stick in all three zones, those plays can only be challenged when it happens in the attacking zone.
38.2 Situations Subject to Coach’s Challenge – A team may only request a Coach’s Challenge to review the following scenarios …. (b) Missed Game Stoppage Event in the Offensive Zone Leading to a Goal – 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.
Since it wasn’t in the offensive zone, the play cannot be reviewed, nor the goal overturned.
That being said, it’s not even clear that this was even a high stick.
80.1 High-sticking the Puck – Batting the puck above the normal height of the shoulders with a stick is prohibited. When a puck is struck with a high stick and subsequently comes into the possession and control of a player from the offending team (including the player who made contact with the puck), either directly or deflected off any player or official, there shall be a whistle.
The side angle appears to show contact at or below shoulder height. The determining factor is where contact is made on the stick, which – even if his stick is up – looks to be below the shoulders. Regardless, if it’s not called on the ice, it’s a moot point. You can’t go back and review this play.
The New York Rangers defeated the Florida Panthers 2-1 in overtime to tie the Conference Finals at 1-1. Referees for the game were Chris Rooney (#5) and Francois St. Laurent (#8), with linesmen Devin Berg (#87) and Ryan Daisy (#81).
