Trevor Zegras spent half the second period in the box Tuesday night for arguing a puck that went off an official — and by the rulebook, there wasn’t a thing wrong with the goal he was protesting.

Thirteen seconds into the second period of Minnesota’s visit to Philadelphia, with the Wild already up 2-0, Jamie Drysdale tried to play the puck up the boards out of the Flyers’ zone. Instead, it struck referee Kyle Rehman and stayed in. The Wild kept the pressure on, with Matt Boldy getting a shot on goal and Joel Eriksson Ek burying the rebound to make it 3–0.

As the Wild celebrated, Zegras challenged Rehman, slapping his stick on the ice.  The veteran referee teed him up, issuing a 10-minute misconduct to the Flyers forward.  The dime meant that Zegras, personally, was the only one punished. There was no loss of manpower on the ice; the Flyers didn’t end up shorthanded by the penalty. 

“I don’t want to see it,” said Philadelphia head coach Rick Tocchet. “You are showing the ref up. Whether or not you are pissed, you can’t tap the ice. You shouldn’t do that.”

 Zegras served it, came back, and finished with 20:01 of ice time and a secondary assist on Denver Barkey’s first career NHL goal – a third-period power-play marker in the 4–2 loss that dropped Philadelphia to 4-9-4.

“Just frustrated. I can’t be doing that,” Zegras said after the game. “I’ve known Kyle [Rehman] for a long time. Just a stupid decision by me.”

Officials Are In Play

This is the part that stings for Flyers fans, but the rulebook isn’t ambiguous: officials are part of the playing area. A puck that strikes one of them is a live puck. There’s no basis for a whistle, no stoppage, no do-over, and no relief for a team that gets burned by the bounce.

The only exception lives in Rule 78.5, which disallows a goal “when the puck has been deflected directly into the net off an official.” That wasn’t this. The puck deflected off the official to Boldy, whose shot was stopped, and the rebound went in off Eriksson Ek’s stick. Two legal plays later, it’s a good goal at 0:42 of the second, and no review was ever going to change that. Not that it could – the play is not eligible for a video review nor a Coach’s Challenge.

Ten Minutes Under Rule 39

Because Zegras’s beef was with an official over a ruling, this one falls under Rule 39 (Abuse of Officials) – not Rule 75’s unsportsmanlike conduct.

Rule 39.1 sets the standard: a player “shall not challenge or dispute the rulings of an Official… shall not display unsportsmanlike conduct including, but not limited to, obscene, profane or abusive language or gestures… or persist in disputing a ruling after being told to stop.”

Rule 39.2 covers the minor-penalty tier – including banging the boards or glass with a stick, or showing disrespect for a decision – while Rule 39.4 is the 10-minute misconduct tier. Sure, 10 is a longer penalty, but it doesn’t put  team shorthanded, which means it’s not unusual for officials to jump to the 10 and focus on penalizing the player and not the team. 

What exactly drew the call hasn’t been nailed down. NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall wrote that “the Flyers’ forward must’ve said something to the official about the unfortunate bounce,” and Philly Hockey Now described Zegras as “looking to be arguing with the official afterward.” 

The usual path up Rule 39 is a ladder – a minor under 39.2 first, then the misconduct under 39.4 if the player won’t quit. On Tuesday, there was no minor first, and per the broadcast, no prior warning either. That’s within the referee’s discretion: if the outburst is judged over the line on its own, the misconduct can stand alone, exactly as the scoresheet shows. But it’s the kind of call that lands harder because of what it followed – a goal created by a puck hitting an official just 42 seconds into a period, in a game already slipping away.

Morgan MacPhee (#43) and Kyle Rehman (#10) had the whistles Tuesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena, with Libor Suchanek (#60) and Julien Fournier (#56) on the lines. 

A Running Storyline for Zegras

This is Zegras’s first misconduct of 2026-27. He came in with 14 PIM — seven minors through 16 games — and now sits at 24, but there’s no further consequence: a lone 10-minute misconduct carries no fine, no suspension, and no carryover, and there’s no Player Safety angle to a verbal or gesture misconduct.

If the officials-versus-Zegras storyline feels familiar, it is:

  • Preseason, Sep 24, 2026 vs. Boston: a minor for delay of game under the Rule 9.5 “improperly wearing equipment” ladder for starting a shift with his jersey tucked. Rick Tocchet said the league had warned teams weeks earlier and that “we can’t have a penalty like that” in the regular season. His teammates protested by skating warmups two days later with their jerseys tucked, and Zegras trolled the whole thing on Instagram.
  • 2026 playoffs: a misconduct late in a 3–0 loss at Carolina on May 3, 2026, after which Tocchet said, “I don’t like slashing and stupid flicking sticks.”
  • Oct 28, 2025 vs. Pittsburgh: a game misconduct in the end-of-overtime melee that saw eight players ejected –  which kept Zegras out of the shootout.

Much of Tuesday’s reaction sided with Zegras and framed the misconduct as soft –  or as evidence he’s being singled out this season. That’s fan sentiment, not a ruling anyone’s overturning. What the rulebook says is simpler: the goal counted because it had to, and the 10 minutes were the referee’s call to make under Rule 39.4. Whether he had to make it – or should have – is the part Flyers fans will be arguing about all week.