The Oilers believe that the overtime power-play goal that beat them in Game 3 of their Western Conference playoff series with the Kings should not have counted.
The league didn't agree, so now Edmonton is down 2-1 in the best-of-seven series and facing a Game 4 in Los Angeles.
Edmonton captain Connor McDavid argued while play was still going on that officials missed a stoppage for the Kings' Gabriel Vilardi being the first player to play the puck after batting it with a high stick.
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The puck had deflected high into the air in the corner, and Vilardi's stick was well above his shoulders right before it started coming down. It bounced off the back of the Oilers' Mattias Ekholm and then touched Vilardi's stick after it landed on the ice. The puck then cycled out to the right circle. Vilardi got it back, skated behind the net and fed Trevor Moore for the goal that gave LA a 3-2 victory.
McDavid pleaded his case again at center ice, and a lengthy review by league's command center in Toronto ensued. In the end, the no-call on the ice stood. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on the postgame show that the NHL determined replays were inconclusive.
"They say they do not have an angle that conclusively proves the puck hit the stick high."@FriedgeHNIC explains the Kings' disputed OT-winning goal in Game 3. pic.twitter.com/mFKcPqxcM3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 22, 2023
"The puck kind of goes up and it goes off (Vilardi's) stick, so I call high stick — that's what I saw on the ice — and then play goes on and they score," McDavid said. "They have that review in place for a reason. I guess they determined they couldn't tell."
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Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft trusts McDavid's eye.
"It's a play where the greatest player in the world's two feet away as it happens and his arm comes straight up in the air because he knows that it hit the stick," Woodcroft said. "Otherwise, he wouldn't put his arm up in the air; he would keep playing.
"It appears to me and in the video that the puck's going straight up in a trajectory and deadens. In the end, I'm going to go with the greatest player in the world, who's three feet away."
What is the rule on playing the puck with a high stick?
This play is covered by Rule 80 of the NHL rule book.
Batting the puck above the normal height of the shoulders with a stick is prohibited. When a puck is struck with a high stick and subsequently comes into the possession and control of a player from the offending team (including the player who made contact with the puck), either directly or deflected off any player or official, there shall be a whistle.
The rule goes on to address when the infraction is not called:
When a puck has been contacted by a high stick, the play shall be permitted to continue, provided that the puck has been batted to an opponent (when a player bats the puck to an opponent, the Referee shall give the "washout" signal immediately. Otherwise, he will stop the play . . .
Friedman pointed out that the puck hitting Ekholm's back would not have wiped out a high stick.
McDavid scored both of Edmonton's goals in Game 3. He and the rest of the Oilers will try to even the series Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena (9 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. MT, CBC).
