Jonathan Drouin goal ruled offside as Penguins win early challenge (Video)
The Tampa Bay Lightning thought they had grabbed the lead 5:12 into Game 6, but a wise challenge by Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan wiped the goal off the scoreboard.
Jonathan Drouin would have had his fifth goal of the postseason after pouncing on a loose puck in front of the Pittsburgh net, but the review showed that the young Lightning forward’s skate caused the offside.
From the NHL Situation Room blog:
After reviewing all available replays and consulting with NHL Hockey Operations staff, the Linesman determined that Tampa Bay's Jonathan Drouin was off-side prior to the goal. According to Rule 78.7, "The standard for overturning the call in the event of a 'GOAL' call on the ice is that the Linesman, after reviewing any and all available replays and consulting with the Toronto Video Room, determines that one or more Players on the attacking team preceded the puck into the attacking zone prior to the goal being scored and that, as a result, the play should have been stopped for an "Off-side" infraction; where this standard is met, the goal will be disallowed.”
Sullivan said afterward his video coach, Andy Saucier, radioed the bench to let them know the play was close enough for them to challenge.
As we saw in Game 4, getting the first goal early helped power the Lightning to a victory. The coach’s challenge by Sullivan was huge in quieting a frenzied Amalie Arena crowd and Pittsburgh would go on to win 5-2 win.
According to Sportsnet, this was the eighth goal in these playoffs overturned after an offside ruling.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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