The Nashville Predators had two goals disallowed in the Stanley Cup Final, including what could have been a massive goal in Game 6 when Colton Sissons’ apparent goal was immediately disallowed due to a quick whistle from referee Kevin Pollock.
Just a quick refresher: After Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray was unable to hold onto a Filip Forsberg shot, the puck sat in the crease allowing Sissons to swoop in and tap it into an empty net to seemingly give the Predators a 1-0 lead.
But as the puck was sitting in the crease Pollock lost sight of it and immediately blew the whistle before Sissons could score.
No goal.
The Predators would not get another puck behind Murray the rest of the game and went on to lose Game 6 2-0, giving the Penguins their fifth Stanley Cup in franchise history and second in a row.
On Tuesday, Joe Rexrode from the Tennessean was able to get an explanation from the NHL as to why exactly the goal was disallowed.
John Dellapina, the NHL’s director of communications, told Rexrode that the call on the ice was handled correctly and that once the whistle was blown the league has no mechanism to review such a play or overturn it.
In response, Rexrode referenced NHL rule 34.8 which includes the following section on the types of plays that are able to be reviewed:
According to the NHL, the only way this play would have been a “continuous” play is if Forsberg’s initial shot had gone in the net while Pollock was in the process of blowing the whistle.
But because it did not, once Sissons played the puck it was no longer a “continuous” play and Pollock’s whistle cancelled everything out.
The game remained scoreless until there was only 1:35 remaining in regulation when Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist banked a shot in off of Pekka Rinne from below the goal line. One minute later Carl Hagelin added an empty net goal.