The Pittsburgh Penguins appeared to narrow the Capitals’ lead to one midway through the third period.
As Sidney Crosby attempted a wraparound, Patric Hornqvist crashed the net, knocking home – or so we thought – the rebound past Braden Holtby. While Hornqvist celebrated with his teammates, officials never ruled it a good goal on the ice.
After a lengthy goal review, the NHL decided that there was no evidence the puck ever crossed the goal line.
Video
Here’s a look at the play in real time.
And NBC’s zoom-in on the goal.
NBC aired this still, which appears to show the puck had crossed the goal line.
Here was how the NHL explained their decision.
At 9:03 of the third period in the Penguins/Capitals game, the Situation Room initiated a video review to further examine a play at the Washington net. Video review determined that there were no definitive replays which showed that the puck completely crossed the Washington goal line. Therefore, the Referee’s call on the ice stands – no goal Pittsburgh.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was furious.
After the game, NBC’s Pierre McGuire asked Holtby if Hornqvist scored.
“I’m not sure,” Holtby said. “I never saw it cross the line. I saw it pinch kind of between my pad and the post. I tried to bring my leg around to keep it out. They wouldn’t show a replay or anything up here so I really have no clue what happened.”
NBC’s still image appears to shows space between the puck and goal line, but the parallax effect matters here. Unless the angle is overhead, we cannot know for sure. From any other angle, the puck will appear farther than it is actually is because the goal line is painted some distance below the surface of the ice. This is inconclusive.
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