With 9:26 left in the third period, Alex Ovechkin appeared to tie the game up 3-3 after stuffing a loose puck under Petr Mrazek’s pads and into the back of the net. Instead, officials on the ice ruled that Ovechkin made contact with Mrazek’s pad and waved the goal off.
The NHL reviewed the play in Toronto and the call on the ice was upheld.
Video
Here are the two crucial replays from NBCSN. Kuzy jukes out Mrazek and tucks the puck behind the tender. As Mrazek spins, Ovechkin pushes the puck into the back of the net.
The overhead angle shows there wasn’t much contact.
Both Todd Reirden and Alex Ovechkin were furious after Toronto upheld the call on the ice.
Here’s the NHL’s explanation.
At 10:34 of third period in the Capitals/Hurricanes game, Washington requested a Coach’s Challenge to review the “Interference on the Goalkeeper” decision that resulted in a “no goal” call.
After reviewing all available replays and consulting with the Referee, the Situation Room confirmed that Alex Ovechkin interfered with Petr Mrazek by pushing his pad, which caused the puck to enter the net. According to Rule 69.3, “If an attacking player initiates contact with a goalkeeper, incidental or otherwise, while the goalkeeper is in his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.”
Therefore, the original call is upheld – no goal Washington Capitals.
Since the Coach’s Challenge did not result in the original call being overturned, the Washington Capitals forfeit their time-out.
Later Ovechkin got ejected after sarcastically clapping at the referees.
“They make a call and it’s on them. It’s over,” Ovechkin said after the game. “I saw the puck. He didn’t control. He didn’t see it. I don’t know what the referee saw. I don’t know what his explanation was. It’s kind of weird. It’s okay. It’s over. Move forward. Nothing you can do right now.”
Capitals head coach Todd Reirden gave some wiggle room to the NHL that they had replays and angles the team hadn’t seen.
“We get certain views on the bench and talking with the players as well from our angle on the bench it looked like the puck was loose,” Reirden said. “We talked to our video staff and they thought it was worth a review. For us, we thought the puck was loose and it was a puck still in play. Those are from different video reviews than I necessarily have on the bench so we rely on our video staff.”
“They made their decision and it wasn’t up for debate,” Reirden said of the officials.
Game Seven will be on Wednesday.
