It's been a tough season for the Columbus Blue Jackets. First, their star offseason acquisition, James Wisniewski, was suspended for the first 8 games of the season after an ugly hit in the preseason. The team was terrible without him and struggled to win a game. Next, their former all star goalie, Steve Mason, completely forgot how to play goalie. Then their 2 star forwards had to battle injuries and trade rumors and the end result has Columbus in the prime position to pick Nail Yakupov first overall next year to have the first pick in the draft next year.
Last night the Jackets were playing in the Staples Center when their streak of bad luck continued. In a close 2-2 game, the Kings had a last chance to end the game in regulation on a powerplay. After a big scramble in front, Kings Drew Doughty put the puck in the net just before the final horn sounded. While reviewing the play, we learned that the puck did indeed cross the goal line before the time ran out. However, we also learned that a mistake was made in the time keeping. Take a look.
The clock stopped at 1.8 for a little over 1 second. The puck went in at .3 seconds left.
They were not able to overturn the goal because they can't just say that the game SHOULD have been over already. It was an illegitimate reason to overturn a goal and as the NHL addressed it: "No you can't (overturn the goal). Once the game is over, it's over."
Now I'm not saying this is going to make a big difference for Columbus who don't necessarily need points. But the Kings potentially got an extra point out of the mistake.
Another interesting factor was whether the error was human or not. Columbus GM Scott Howson hinted in a blog post that "either there was a deliberate stopping of the clock or a malfunction." He said that it is a possibility that someone saw the play developing and maybe stopped the clock for 1 second to see if they can end it in regulation. However, Howson's post was quickly removed from the internet by the Blue Jackets.
Whether it was a human error or just a malfunction, this was an embarrassment for the NHL. To have such a bad mistake when the game matters most is completely unacceptable. But hopefully it was just a one-time mechanical error that won't happen again. At least for Columbus' sake.
Last night the Jackets were playing in the Staples Center when their streak of bad luck continued. In a close 2-2 game, the Kings had a last chance to end the game in regulation on a powerplay. After a big scramble in front, Kings Drew Doughty put the puck in the net just before the final horn sounded. While reviewing the play, we learned that the puck did indeed cross the goal line before the time ran out. However, we also learned that a mistake was made in the time keeping. Take a look.
The clock stopped at 1.8 for a little over 1 second. The puck went in at .3 seconds left.
They were not able to overturn the goal because they can't just say that the game SHOULD have been over already. It was an illegitimate reason to overturn a goal and as the NHL addressed it: "No you can't (overturn the goal). Once the game is over, it's over."
Now I'm not saying this is going to make a big difference for Columbus who don't necessarily need points. But the Kings potentially got an extra point out of the mistake.
Another interesting factor was whether the error was human or not. Columbus GM Scott Howson hinted in a blog post that "either there was a deliberate stopping of the clock or a malfunction." He said that it is a possibility that someone saw the play developing and maybe stopped the clock for 1 second to see if they can end it in regulation. However, Howson's post was quickly removed from the internet by the Blue Jackets.
Whether it was a human error or just a malfunction, this was an embarrassment for the NHL. To have such a bad mistake when the game matters most is completely unacceptable. But hopefully it was just a one-time mechanical error that won't happen again. At least for Columbus' sake.
