Panthers rue nullified goal: Would’ve been ‘spark’

EDMONTON, Alberta — Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice wouldn’t have challenged it. Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch thought it was obvious. One thing was clear: The offside video review that took down Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov‘s second-period goal was a turning point in Edmonton’s 5-1 Game 6 Stanley Cup Final victory Friday night.

Barkov appeared to score 10 seconds after Edmonton’s Adam Henrique gave the home team a 2-0 lead just 46 seconds into the second period. But the Oilers’ bench challenged the goal, saying the Panthers were offside. After a video review, the officials determined that Florida’s Sam Reinhart “preceded the puck into the offensive zone and was in an offside position prior to the Panthers’ goal,” taking Barkov’s goal off the board and preserving the 2-0 lead for Edmonton.

The Oilers were in control of the game at that point. The ruling stopped Florida from stealing any of the momentum.

“You’re looking for a jump-start at that point,” Maurice said. “The shots are 11-2 in the first period, so we need something to go. It would’ve been a spark for us for sure.”

Edmonton would add a third goal with 1:40 left in the period. Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling had an ill-fated one-timer attempt blocked by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to center ice, where winger Zach Hyman found the puck, raced in and beat goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for his 16th goal of the playoffs.

“You think about the game, and there’s a couple opportunities to have momentum shifts,” Knoblauch said. “One was in the second period when they score on the offside play, make it 2-1 instead of 2-0. That’s the time that could change the flow of the game.”

From there, the Oilers became just the third team in NHL history to force a Game 7 after falling behind 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final.

After the game, Panthers players lamented the overturned goal.

“It sucks that it didn’t go our way,” Florida winger Carter Verhaeghe said. “I don’t know. I’m sure it was the right call if they’re watching a million replays.”

Said Barkov: “Well, it was offside, so it doesn’t count. We had our chances after that. We had our chances to get to one goal, but then they got 3-0.”

Maurice said that, based on the angles he watched from the Panthers’ bench, he wouldn’t have challenged the goal had the roles been reversed.

“The linesperson informed me that it was the last clip that they got where they made the decision that it shows it’s offside,” Maurice said. “I don’t have those, so the video that I got at my bench … I was upset after the call based on what I see and what my video person looks at.

“There was no way I would’ve challenged that. There’s no way I thought you could conclusively say that was offside. I don’t know what [feeds] the Oilers get. I don’t know what the league gets. I just know that when I would’ve had to have challenged that based on what I saw, I would not have challenged.”

Knoblauch was 4-for-6 in the regular season on coach’s challenges. The process starts with video coaches Noah Segall and Mike Fanelli, who review available feeds. They radio down to assistant coach Mark Stuart, and the decision to challenge is discussed among the coaches.

Knoblauch disagreed with Maurice’s take on the ruling.

“I actually didn’t think it was that close,” Knoblauch said. “We were actually going to call it right away, and we had a little more time to review it. The only hesitation was maybe there wasn’t the right video. In my mind, it was definitely offside, but I guess you never know. It was something I wanted to challenge almost immediately when I saw it.”

It was yet another moment in which a glimmer of hope was dashed for the Panthers. They have lost three games in a row by a combined score of 18-5 and are faced with becoming the second team in NHL history to lose the Stanley Cup Final after building a 3-0 lead.

Florida had a lengthy meeting after the game with the coaching staff, management and players.

“We need to get ready for the Game 7,” Barkov said. “Obviously, no one’s happy to lose the game, but that’s it. We know we can get better, and we need to get better.”