The Washington Capitals not only defeated one of the best teams in the league on Wednesday, but they also ended a long unlucky streak with referees.
The Capitals saw a challenge go their way for the first time all season in their 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, wiping Anze Kopitar’s game-tying goal off the board late in the third period.
Kopitar scored on a huge one-timer from the right circle, beating Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren at the 12:10 mark of the period. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery immediately signaled a referee over to the bench for a coach’s challenge due to his belief that the Kings entered the zone offside.
Though it ended up being a bit closer than he realized.
“I was very confident early because as that play was going on, we got it radioed in that it was offside,” Carbery said after the game. “So we had an idea that, okay, if this ends up in the back of the net, we’re going to challenge it. But then when I saw the video it got a little bit tighter because the puck was elevated and in the sock so you couldn’t really see it on the ice, it was in the sock.”
In the end, the Capitals got the call as Kopitar was the player who entered the zone early. Carbery gave a shoutout to the Caps’ video team for helping them win the game.
“It was offside; they made the right call,” he said. “Credit to Emily (Engel-Natzke) and Brett (Leonhardt) for getting that.”
Coming into the game, Washington had made one challenge for interference and one for offside, losing both. Capitals’ opponents challenged two Washington goals based on interference and three based on offside, succeeding in all five.
Screenshot: @capitals/X
