The Anaheim Ducks are one win away from advancing to the second round and took their 3-1 series lead over the Edmonton Oilers in dramatic fashion.
After 60 minutes, the two teams played to a 3-3 draw, then went to sudden-death overtime. Just 2:29 into the first extra frame, Ducks forward Ryan Poehling sent a sharp-angle shot to the front of the net that deflected off Oilers defender Darnell Nurse and through goaltender Tristan Jarry‘s legs.
Ryan Poehling OTGWG in Game 4
Before Nurse’s defense partner, Connor Murphy, could sweep the puck from behind Jarry, the biscuit appeared to creep just over the goal line by mere millimeters. The on-ice officials gathered and gave their initial call of “good goal” before an extensive review in Toronto to determine if the puck fully crossed the line, which also went Anaheim’s way.
Referees confirm ruling of Poehling goal
The controversial initial call by the officials came despite there being no referee behind the net when the puck was trickling through Jarry’s pads. The debate only became more tense when the crossbar camera’s view of the puck was blocked by Jarry’s left skate blade.
“I didn’t get any communication [about the call on the ice],” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said postgame. “I can’t see it going in. I can’t see the line. You can’t see any space. Similarly, you talk about the blue line, offsides, there have been many times where I’ve seen they don’t have the absolute proof of it, and I thought that was going to be the call tonight also.”
“I was just hoping it was going to count,” Ducks forward Mason McTavish said. “Poehls said he saw it cross the line completely, so we all kinda trusted him. They called it a goal on the ice, and I guess they saw it completely cross.”
The Oilers protested the call throughout the review process and even after the referees returned to award the victory to Anaheim. Edmonton’s superstar captain, Connor McDavid, could be seen over by the penalty box looking to get a full explanation from Jake Brenk and Francois St. Laurent.
Connor McDavid protests good goal call
“Not exactly an oil painting of a goal, but it’s playoff time,” McDavid said. “You throw pucks there, and sometimes you get rewarded. They obviously were tonight.”
“You guys saw it on the screen, we saw it on the TV down on our bench,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm added. “I don’t know how they see it as a conclusive goal. I just don’t. To be honest, maybe there’s somebody that can prove me otherwise. It doesn’t really matter, to be honest. They called it a goal.”
While some of Edmonton’s players and their bench boss, Knoblauch, expressed his opinion that the goal shouldn’t have stood, another NHL head coach watching the game, the Washington Capitals‘ Spencer Carbery, took the opposing stance during his guest analyst spot on ESPN.
“It was so tough to tell because his skate blade was in the way,” Carbery told Scott Van Pelt. “But if you ask me, that puck was across the line.”
Spencer Carbery shares analysis on Ducks win
The Ducks will now go to Edmonton for Game 5 on Tuesday night with a chance to eliminate the Oilers.
