Trailing 2-1 until midway through the third period, the Pittsburgh Penguins came from behind to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Sunday night.
Sidney Crosby had the honor of scoring the game-winning goal for the Penguins with 2:14 left in the game, but it all happened on a sequence that is likely to generate a lot of discussion.
Coming in front of the Jackets net from behind the net, Penguins No. 87 and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made contact as the puck was heading towards the net.
It was then that Crosby, closely watched by Jack Roslovic on the sequence, took advantage of Merzlikins’ imbalance to push the puck into an empty net.
Since the call from the officials was that there was indeed a goal, Jackets head coach Brad Larsen, visibly upset, had to appeal the decision.
The verdict following the video review stated that the contact in question had occurred outside the blue semi-circle, and therefore Crosby’s action could not be characterized as obstruction of the goaltender.
The Ohio formation thus received a two-minute penalty for having this challenge failed, thus destroying their chances of winning.
“I had a very good feeling about the chances of the decision being overturned. My only concern was if Ros(lovic) had pushed Sid. (…) I felt even better about all that when the revision was done quickly. I’m sure they’ll explain it to us, but they’ve made their decision and we have to live with it,” Larsen said in a post-game conference.
Roslovic meanwhile preferred to point out the fact that he had missed his defensive coverage against the Penguins captain.
“It’s shit that it ended like this. It’s my job to make sure the puck doesn’t end up in the net, and I didn’t. I take responsibility for this error. (…) The puck landed directly on his stick blade and I didn’t do enough to stop him from shooting. »
Evgeni Malkin had previously allowed the Pens to tie the game 2-2 by scoring his 9th goal of the campaign, all on the power play.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Roslovic were the scorers for Columbus in this game. Merzlikins faced a total of 40 pitches, and Casey DeSmith was tested 34 times.
Tyler Myers and Matthew Highmore each had a goal and an assist, leading the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers.
The Canucks stormed Madison Square Garden in the first period, scoring in the 4th minute thanks to Tanner Pearson.
Myers doubled the lead before the first intermission with his first-ever goal of the campaign, and Vancouver didn’t look back after that.
Amorphous during the first 40 minutes of the game, Rangers found a certain way to go late in the game, whenAlexis Lafreniere and Ryan Strome beat Thatcher Demko, but comeback efforts were in vain.
In the case of Lafrenière, it was a 12th goal this season. He shot on reception at lightning speed on a beautiful staging by Mika Zibanejad.
Elias Pettersson put the finishing touches by scoring in an empty net, assisted by Demko, who made 31 saves.
Igor Shesterkin was enjoying an evening off; thus, it was his compatriot Alexandar Georgiev who was in front of the New York cage. He faced 33 pitches.
Sorokin adds another shutout this season
Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves as the New York Islanders shut out the Anaheim Ducks 4-0.
It’s Sorokin’s fifth shutout this season, second-highest behind Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom (eight).
Casey Cizikas had a goal and an assist.
Noah Dobson opened the scoring in the first period with a shot from the point, then Cizikas made it 2-0.
Andy Greene added in third, while Kieffer Bellows scored on a breakaway.
Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves for the Ducks, who have lost their last two games.
Seventh straight setback for the Kraken
The San Jose Sharks defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-1.
The Kraken thus cash a seventh loss in a row.
Scott Reedy and Jonah Gadjovich both had a great moment in victory by scoring their first NHL goals.
Ryan Dzingel opened the scoring with a wrist shot in the first period for the Sharks, who had lost eight of their last nine games before today.
Jasper Weatherby had two assists, while James Reimer made 39 saves.
Morgan Geekie provided the line for the Kraken.