Why Stars’ Game 3 winner vs. Jets counted after kicking review
The Dallas Stars broke a third-period tie on Sunday with a goal by Alexander Petrovic and there was some disagreement as to whether the marker should have counted.
If you’re a Winnipeg Jets fan, you might feel a bit cheated with how Game 3 was decided.
The Dallas Stars broke a third-period tie on Sunday with a goal by Alexander Petrovic and there was some disagreement as to whether or not the marker should have counted.
Petrovic scored the goal just four minutes into the final frame as he was driving to the net on a Stars rush play. The defenceman was at the goal line and used his foot to direct the puck in the direction of the Winnipeg net.
The play was called a goal on ice but was looked at by the league. It ultimately held up after a lengthy review.
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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the on-ice officials felt strongly that the puck was not illegally kicked.
“They felt it was a directed puck, not a kicked puck. That’s one issue,” Friedman reported after the game. “The other thing here is they feel (Connor) Hellebuyck doesn’t deflect it into the net — he propels it into the net. So even if it was a kicked puck, they felt very strongly that it wasn’t directed in, it was propelled in, and that’s why they decided to count it as a goal.”
The on-ice official told fans in Dallas that the “Winnipeg goalie put the puck into his own net after a kick. It’s a good goal.”
NHL rule No. 37.4 states that plays that involve a puck entering the net as the direct result of a “distinct kicking motion” shall be ruled NO GOAL. A “distinct kicking motion” must be made clear by video that an attacking player has deliberately propelled the puck with the kick of his foot or skate and the puck subsequently enters the net.
The rule goes on to clarify that a goal scored by a distinct kicking motion should not count even if the puck then deflects off another player, including the goaltender.
Friedman also reported that the league’s explanation for the length of the review was to accommodate all the requests for replays. The review lasted approximately eight minutes.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Jets head coach Scott Arniel was unhappy with the decision and the explanation given to him from officials.
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“The rule states that if a puck gets kicked, hits a body or a stick of anybody else other than a goaltender, it counts as a goal. It hit our goaltender’s stick and went in the net. That is no goal,” Arniel said. “They said that Helle propelled the puck in. I haven’t seen the word propel in the rule book.
“They made the decision, we’ve got to live with it.”
Though the Stars went on to score two more goals after Petrovic, his marker stood as the game-winner and served as the momentum-changer that Dallas needed to put this game to bed.
You can watch the series continue on Tuesday on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, with Game 4 in Dallas scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
