Welcome to the NHL, where you can review whether a play is offsides by a millimeter long before the goal was even scored, but you can't review a puck clearly going out of play just seconds before a goal was scored.
If that seems incredibly dumb, it's because it is. The Bruins fell victim to said stupidity in the first period of Thursday night's Game 4 in Columbus. After going up 2-0 in a wild opening to the game that also featured Tuukka Rask denying Boone Jenner on a penalty shot, the Blue Jackets cut the lead to 2-1 at the 8:46 mark when Oliver Bjorkstrand set up Artemi Panarin right in front.
One problem: the goal shouldn't have counted because the puck deflected out of play and off the netting above the glass just seconds before the goal. All the officials on the ice missed it though, and somehow the play isn't reviewable.
No review on that play, apparently.Yikes. pic.twitter.com/xtXni5NAo5
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 3, 2019Here it is: Conclusive evidence that the puck hit the netting before CBJ's goal. pic.twitter.com/OSwd2zE4Oc
— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) May 3, 2019Mike Milbury, on the NBCSN broadcast, passed along an explanation from the league saying that pucks out of play are only reviewable if the puck goes immediately into the net after bouncing back in, because the league's general managers don't want it to be reviewable once a pass is made and play continues.
The NHL later confirmed that explanation with a tweet that Bruins fans will be sending straight to the Ratio Hall of Fame:
Rule explanation of @9Artemi's goal at 8:46 of the first period in the @NHLBruins/@BlueJacketsNHL game. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/vsBsORANh1
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 3, 2019That explanation, of course, is completely at odds with the aforementioned offsides reviews, which often look at plays that occur many passes before a goal and have far less of an effect on the ensuing goal than a play like this. In this case, the confusion over where the puck was clearly played a factor in the Blue Jackets gaining possession and setting up Panarin in front.
Incredibly, this isn't the first time something like this has happened to the Bruins in Columbus. Back in December 2014, the Blue Jackets scored more than a minute after a puck had gone out of play. Similarly, the refs missed it, the play was not reviewable, the goal counted, and Jack Edwards delivered one of his all-time rants.
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