DALLAS (AP) — Alexander Petrovic had gone nine years since scoring a goal in the NHL playoffs. The defenseman and the Dallas Stars then had to endure an extended replay review before that puck off his skate was confirmed as their go-ahead tally.
“The refs were making me a little nervous, but we had seen the replay,” Petrovic said.
Top-seeded Winnipeg did too, and the Jets are now down 2-1 in the second-round Western Conference series after that disputed goal in their 5-2 loss Sunday.
The NHL situation room initiated a video review, and watched for well over five minutes trying to determine if Petrovic kicked the puck into the net for a 3-2 lead with 16:09 left. The final decision was that replays supported the referee’s on-ice call that goalie Connor Hellebuyck propelled the puck into his own net.
“We were asking about the kicking motion, there’s a deflection, the refs claimed that he played it in his own net. I think that was the bottom line,” said Kyle Connor, who had a goal for the Jets.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer said he was glad officials took as much time as they needed “to get it right,” adding that the explanation he got was that Hellebuyck was trying to make a play on the puck.
Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel had a different interpretation.
“The rule states that if the puck gets kicked, if it hits a body or a stick of anybody else other than the goaltender, it counts as a goal. It hit our goaltender’s stick and went in the net. That is no goal,” Arniel said. “So they said that Helly propelled the puck in, and I haven’t seen the word propelled in the rulebook.”
That chaotic play that put Dallas ahead to stay came after an initial shot by Mikko Rantanen that ricocheted off Hellebuyck to his right, then off Petrovic’s skate back toward the net.
“I saw him kind of kick it, but I didn’t see a replay of it. … I thought it was 50-50 probably, but thank God they called it a goal,” said Rantanen, who also had a goal and another assist.
Hellebuyck fell back when trying to stop the puck that appeared to go off his stick.
“Shot on net, rebound, kind of went off my skate. It was a pretty lucky goal,” said Petrovic, who was with Florida when he scored his only other playoff goal in 2016.
The 33-year-old defenseman, who thought the puck might have gone off Winnipeg defenseman Dylan Samberg’s stick, has played in 16 playoff games for Dallas over the past two years, during a span when he appeared in only six regular season games.
Rantanen scored his goal 49 seconds after play resumed following the review, though the Jets refused to use that strange goal and long review as an excuse for their loss.
“Obviously, they got some momentum from the goal, but it’s still one-goal game at that point,” Jets center Morgan Barron said. “Regardless of the circumstances, I think we have to do a better job, kind of pushing back.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
