With their season hanging in the balance and goaltender Tuukka Rask out with an illness, the Boston Bruins arguably caught a break early in the first period of today’s game against the Ottawa Senators.
In the Senators zone, David Pastrnak snatched the sailing puck out of midair and quickly put himself in a position to beat goalie Andrew Hammond one-on-one.
Alley-oop, the @NHLBruins are on the board. #OTTvsBOShttps://t.co/q1ppFDbfoY
— NHL (@NHL) April 9, 2016
The question is if Pastrnak was offside. Ottawa challenged the call, but it ultimately stood as the league believed the video was inconclusive. The NHL referred to Rule 78.7 which states, “If a review is not conclusive and/or there is any doubt whatsoever as to whether the call on the ice was correct, the On-Ice Official(s) will be instructed to confirm their original call.”
The Senators lost their timeout as a result of the failed challenge.
It is worth noting that it does look like offside:
This is the best look pic.twitter.com/ZOFCC9CL7I
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 9, 2016
As AP’s Stephen Whyno noted, the NHL is putting cameras on the blue lines for the playoffs, so we’re not likely to get inconclusive reviews in these scenarios in the near future.