Canadiens' Brendan Gallagher on disallowed goal vs. Senators: 'I’m knocked on my ass. I have time to reset.'

Jackie Spiegel

•
Canadiens' Brendan Gallagher on disallowed goal vs. Senators: 'I’m knocked on my ass. I have time to reset.' image

Once a red-hot squad, the Canadiens have now lost three in a row — including the last two to the upstart Senators. On Tuesday, the club was handed a 5-4 shootout loss in Ottawa, not long after it thought it had taken the lead in the waning seconds of the third period.

With fewer than 10 seconds left to go in the tie game, Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher cut through the crease to get to the front and clipped the back of Senators goalie Matt Murray's leg. Both went down on the play, and both popped back up and looked to reset before Gallagher deflected the Ben Chiarot shot under the bar.

Because it was scored in the final minute, the coach's challenge on the goal was initiated by Toronto. The goal was disallowed after review because, according to the NHL’s Situation Room, Gallagher impaired Murray’s “ability to play his position in the crease prior to the puck entering the net.”

“I'm still searching for an explanation that makes sense," Gallagher said postgame. "We sit down at the start of every season and the NHL prepares a video for us. The referees see the exact same video. ... On this play, I’m knocked on my ass. I have time to reset. You can’t tell me the goalie doesn’t have time to reset."

A fired-up Gallagher also commented on the inconsistency of what's considered a good goal: "To me, it's ruining the product."

Approximately three to four seconds elapsed between contact and the goal. During the first intermission of the Oilers-Canucks game, Sportsnet analyst Colby Armstrong suggested that, because Murray had trouble finding the puck after he was spun around, the goal was disallowed.

The play sparked an uproar on social media as hockey pundits and fans alike weighed in on the non-goal.

Jackie Spiegel