The New York Rangers wanted a penalty shot. The rulebook says they were never getting one.

Midway through the second period on Monday night in Edmonton, with the Rangers trailing the Oilers 2-1, Noah Laba blocked an Evan Bouchard point shot in his own end and took off the other way. Eight seconds later, deep in Edmonton territory with only goaltender Devon Levi ahead of him, Laba was tripped from behind by the backchecking Bouchard, wiping out his scoring chance.

Referees Peter MacDougall and Brandon Schrader assessed Bouchard a two-minute minor for tripping at 15:23 of the second period. No penalty shot. The Rangers’ bench wanted one, and, at least on the surface, the play had everything a penalty shot is supposed to have.

The Four Criteria

Under Rule 57.3, a penalty shot for a foul from behind requires all four of the following:

  • The infraction took place in the neutral or attacking zone
  • The infraction was committed from behind
  • The puck carrier was denied a reasonable chance to score
  • The puck carrier had no opposing player between himself and the goalkeeper

Laba’s play appeared to check every box. He was well inside the attacking zone, Bouchard took him down from behind on the chase, he never got a shot away, and there was nobody between him and Levi.

The Puck-First Exception

There’s one more paragraph in Rule 57.3, and it’s the one that decided this play. Bouchard got a piece of the puck first:

“If, in the opinion of the Referee, a player makes contact with the puck first and subsequently trips the opponent in so doing, no penalty shot will be awarded, but a minor penalty for tripping shall be assessed.”

That’s the whole ruling. Once the referee judged that Bouchard made contact with the puck before tripping Laba, the penalty shot was off the table – the only call available was the minor that was assessed. The logic is built into the rule itself: a penalty shot exists to restore a scoring opportunity that was lost, and if the defender knocked the puck away first, the league’s position is that the opportunity was already gone before the trip.

Like every part of the penalty-shot criteria, the puck-first determination is the referee’s judgment – “in the opinion of the Referee” – and it’s not reviewable. There’s no coach’s challenge to win a penalty shot that wasn’t awarded.

A 2014 Rule Change

It wasn’t always even a penalty. Before the 2014-15 season, a defender who dove, tipped the puck away, and took the attacker down in the process had made a clean defensive play. Getting the puck first meant no call at all.

The NHL closed that loophole for 2014-15, making the play a two-minute tripping minor regardless of who touched the puck first. But the league deliberately kept the second half of the old bargain: get the puck first, and it still can’t be a penalty shot.

Bouchard’s play on Monday was exactly the one the amended rule describes. He got the puck, then he got Laba. Under the current book, that’s a minor penalty and nothing more – which is precisely what MacDougall and Schrader called.

The Rangers failed to score on the ensuing power play, going 0-for-5 with the man advantage on the night.

 

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the New York Rangers 3-1 on Monday night at Rogers Place. Officials were referees Peter MacDougall (#38) and Brandon Schrader (#34), with linespersons Anthony Lapointe (#63) and Andrew Smith (#51).