With a little more than a minute to go in Friday’s Rangers-Blue Jackets game, Kevin Klein scored a goal that was waved off by the referee, who ruled it a high stick.
The play was reviewed and the referee’s ruling upheld, even though the puck hit Columbus’ Scott Hartnell after contacting Klein’s stick.
So, should it have been a goal? Not according to the NHL rule book.
As Rule 80.1 states:
Disallowed Goal – When an attacking player causes the puck to enter the opponent’s goal by contacting the puck above the height of the crossbar, either directly or deflected off any player or official, the goal shall not be allowed. The determining factor is where the puck makes contact with the stick. If the puck makes contact with the stick at or below the level of the crossbar and enters the goal, this goal shall be allowed.
So, even though the puck was deflected in off a defending player after being high-sticked by Klein, the play is still illegal. The Rangers won the game 2-1 anyway.
The real question here is: was it actually offside?