St. Louis led 3:2 and was already waiting for the final siren when the referees, after a video review, counted Seattle’s controversial goal with 1.9 seconds left. In overtime, the guests put the pressure on the hosts. Coach Jim Montgomery is fuming: in his opinion, it was pure interference with goalie Joel Hofer.
The evening in St. Louis turned out perfectly for the hosts: the scoreboard showed 0.5 seconds before the siren, the Blues were ahead 3:2, all that was left was to wait for confirmation of the video review – and they could celebrate. But the NHL’s “Situation Room” saw it differently: Seattle’s goal was counted, 1.9 seconds were returned to the clock, and in overtime it all ended with Shane Wright‘s winning shot – 3:4.
Blues head coach Jim Montgomery was at a loss for words: “We were confident we were winning. By all criteria, it’s a hindrance to our goalkeeper.” We’re talking about the moment in front of Joel Hofer’s goal: according to St. Louis, Jordan Eberle drove into the blue, touched the goalkeeper’s stick and actually deprived him of the opportunity to play as a blocker. And the puck just went in that direction.
The regulations treat such episodes strictly: contact with the goalkeeper in the goal area, which prevents the player from playing the puck, is grounds for canceling the goal. However, the league emphasized in an official comment that the actions of the visiting forward did not impair Hofer’s ability to take a position and save the shot. On the ice – one verdict. In the locker room there are completely different emotions.
Joel Hofer: “My stick got hit. If an opponent’s foot hits the blue and interferes with me, isn’t that a “no goal”? Who knows now…”
The irony is that just recently the Blues saw a mirror case: at the end of October, the referees canceled an opponent’s goal due to interference with their goalkeeper – then it was a question of a struggle at the stick. Therefore, the current decision only scratched the nerve even more.
The plot of the match was already tense. Jordan Kayrou put St. Louis ahead early in the third period, a good attempt at rehabilitation after his recent transfer to the reserves. With 2:42 left, the Kraken took off the goalkeeper, pressed on in a 6 on 5 format and, in the chaos, finally put the squeeze on. Just before the end, the Blues punted the puck three times, failed to win a key faceoff—Nick Bjugstad lost to Chandler Stevenson—and ended up putting themselves under pressure.
Hofer had a chance to become famous on the other side: a little more than two minutes before the end, he aimed at empty ones – he lacked just a couple of feet of accuracy. But after the final siren, the goalkeeper was laconic: “I missed.”
In overtime, Seattle kept the puck calmly and took the victory with the first shot. “It hurts. There was just one extra save that needed to be made,” Hofer admitted. Montgomery did not restrain himself: “We could have closed the match empty-handed twice, then there was a controversial episode at the goal. And all the same, the game should be ours.”
St. Louis’ conclusion is simple and harsh: the order in the endings – old sores of last season – must be treated urgently. And disputes with interpretations of the rules will be left on the conscience of those who watch the replays. The glasses have already floated away.
