EDMONTON, Alberta — Florida Panthers coach Paul Morrissey wouldn’t challenge it. Edmonton Oilers coach Chris Knoblauch thought it was obvious. One thing was clear: The offside video review that ruled out Panthers captain Alexander Barkov’s second-period goal was a turning point in Edmonton’s 5-1 Game 6 Stanley Cup Final victory Friday night.
Edmonton’s Adam Heinrich gave the home team a 2–0 lead just 46 seconds into the second period, with Barkov scoring 10 seconds later. But the Oilers’ bench challenged the goal, saying the Panthers were offside. After a video review, officials determined that Florida’s Sam Reinhart “was in an offside position before the puck was in the offensive zone and before the Panthers’ goal,” taking Barkov’s goal off the board and the lead 2–0. Kept intact.
The Oilers were in control of the game at that point. This decision prevented Florida from stealing any momentum.
“You’re looking for a quick start at that point,” Morris said. “Shots are 11-2 in the first period, so we needed to do something. That definitely would have been a spark for us.”
Edmonton would add a third goal with 1:40 left in the period. An unfortunate one-time attempt from Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling was intercepted by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at center ice, where winger Zack Hyman found the puck, raced in and beat goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for his 16th goal of the playoffs.
“You think about the game, and there are some opportunities to change momentum,” Knoblauch said. “One was in the second period when they scored on an offside play, making it 2-1 instead of 2-0. That’s the time that can change the flow of the game.”
From there, the Oilers became the third team in NHL history to make it to a Game 7 after falling 3–0 in the Stanley Cup Finals.
After the game, Panthers players lamented the overturned goal.
“It’s sad it didn’t go our way,” Florida winger Carter Verhaeghe said. “I don’t know. I’m sure if they were watching a million replays it was the right decision.”
Barkov said: “Well, it was offside, so it doesn’t count. After that we had chances. We had a chance to go a goal away, but then they went 3–0.”
Morris said that based on the angles he saw from the Panthers’ bench, he would not have challenged the goal if the roles had been reversed.
“The linesperson informed me that this was the last clip they got where they decided it showed offside,” Morris said. “I don’t have them, so the video I found on my bench…I was upset after the call based on what I see and what my video guy sees.
“There was no way I could have challenged him. There was no way I thought you could conclusively say it was offside. I don’t know what (feeds) the Oilers get. I don’t Know what the league has to offer. I just know that when I have to challenge based on what I see, I don’t challenge.”
Knoblauch was 4-for-6 in the regular season on coach’s challenges. The process begins with video coaches Noah Segal and Mike Fanelli, who review the available feeds. They radio assistant coach Mark Stuart, and the decision to challenge is discussed among the coaches.
Knoblauch disagreed with Maurice’s view on this decision.
“I actually didn’t think it was that close,” Knoblauch said. “Actually we were going to call it right away, and we had a little more time to review it. The only hesitation was that maybe it wasn’t the right video. In my mind, it was definitely wrong, but I think That you never know. It was something that I immediately wanted to challenge as soon as I saw it.”
It was another moment when a glimmer of hope was lost for the Panthers. They have lost three consecutive games by a combined score of 18–5 and face becoming just the second team in NHL history to lose the Stanley Cup Finals after blowing a 3–0 lead.
Florida held a lengthy meeting with the coaching staff, management and players after the game.
“We need to get ready for Game 7,” Barkov said. “Obviously, nobody’s happy to lose a game, but that’s it. We know we can get better and we need to get better.”
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