The NHL referred to Rule 63.7 when it awarded Minnesota Wild winger Marcus Johansson a goal against the Nashville Predators when the net was displaced.
Minnesota Wild left winger Marcus Johansson recorded an overtime-winning goal that didn't even enter the net on Tuesday.
With under 90 seconds left in the extra frame, the Wild had a 3-on-2 against the Nashville Predators. Defenseman Brock Faber passed to Kirill Kaprizov, who faked a shot and sent a cross-crease pass to Johansson.
When Kaprizov made the pass, Predators netminder Justus Annunen bumped into the post, knocking it out of place. The right post remained in place when Johansson's shot hit the outer side of the net. But Johansson then handled the puck to slide it over the goal line, where the net would have been if the left peg was still in the hole.
The goal, which sparked considerable debate and disagreement on social media, left the Predators perplexed about why it should have counted and given them a 3-2 loss.
"The net clearly comes off," Nashville winger Michael McCarron told reporters post-game, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo. "I don't know how the ref can stand there with a straight face and call it a goal, and then they call Toronto, and they still decide to call it a goal.
"I mean, I'm dumbfounded. I feel like we got screwed tonight. I don't know how they can call that a goal, really."
The NHL referred to a rule that doesn't need to be called very often when it explained why Johansson's goal counted.
Rule 63.7 states the referee may award a goal when the goal post is displaced either deliberately or accidentally by a defending player prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goal posts.
For the goal to be awarded, it must meet the following criteria:
- the goal post must have been displaced by the actions of a defending player
- the attacking player must have an imminent scoring opportunity prior to the goal post being displaced
- it must be determined the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts
For the net to be considered displaced, either or both goal pegs must no longer be in their respective holes in the ice, or the net has come completely off at least one of the pegs.
In this case, Annunen slid into the post, regardless of intention, and the goal peg on the left post came out of the hole in the ice.
Johansson missed the net on his first shot, but the officials and the league judged that he still had an imminent scoring opportunity, considering he tried again and put the puck over the line.
Now, it's possible some of the Predators players stopped playing when the net came off, and had the net stayed on, they would have prevented Johansson from taking the second shot. But Johansson was left alone by the right post, so Nashville's best shot at preventing the opportunity may have been Brady Skjei needing to reach around Annunen to defend against the Wild winger.
The decision by the officials and the league means the Wild are only one point back of Nashville in the standings as they're three and two points back of the second wild-card spot, respectively. Both teams need every point they can get to try to be in a playoff spot by April.
Other instances in which a goal may be awarded under Rule 63.7 are when the goaltender deliberately displaces the net during a breakaway or when the defending team replaces the goalie with an extra attacker and knocks the net off to prevent an impending goal by the attacking squad.
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