The St. Louis Blues are, in their own words, a fragile team at the moment and can not catch a break.
Even when it seems like they may have been able to catch one.
In the first period of Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers, defender Robert Bortuzzo innocently dumped the puck into the offensive zone from just outside the blue line, where it bounced off of referee Tim Peel’s midsection and ended up in the back of the net behind Roberto Luongo.
It was bizarre. It was flukey. It was strange. It was also illegal.
From the NHL’s situation room:
Peel was shaken up as a result of the play and had to leave the ice.
Fortunately for the Blues they were able to score four goals in the third period that did count to pick up a much-needed 4-3 win over the Panthers.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.