The Edmonton Oilers might have got away with one.
Late in the first period of Wednesday night’s game between the Canucks and Oilers, defenceman Dam Hamhuis appeared to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead when he hammered a puck past goaltender Ben Scrivens.
As soon as the Canucks began celebrating, the refs immediately waved off the goal and awarded Canucks forward Alex Burrows with a penalty for goaltender interference after he marginally bumped Scrivens and knocked him over.
On second look, it appeared to be a ticky-tack call.
Here’s the official wording of the rule, from NHL.com:
Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal; or (2) an attacking player initiates intentional or deliberate contact with a goalkeeper, inside or outside of his goal crease. Incidental contact with a goalkeeper will be permitted, and resulting goals allowed, when such contact is initiated outside of the goal crease, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact. The rule will be enforced exclusively in accordance with the on-ice judgment of the Referee(s), and not by means of video replay or review.
The Canucks weren’t crazy about the ruling and immediately tweeted their displeasure. The Oilers were quick to pounce and had some fun with their response.
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