Senators’ White reminded you can’t score goal with head-butt (Video)

Crazy ending to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

With the Senators trailing by a goal with a minute to play in regulation, Colin White appeared to score a game-tying goal on a bizarre play in front of the net.

After White’s initial shot hit the cross-bar and soared sky-high in the air, he patiently waited underneath it and then head-butted it into the net.

The only problem: NHL rules prohibit that sort of play.

From rule 78.5:

“When the puck has been directed, batted or thrown into the net by an attacking player other than with a stick. When this occurs, if it is deemed to be done deliberately, then the decision shall be NO GOAL. A goal cannot be scored when the puck has been deliberately batted with any part of the attacking player’s body into the net.”

That means no kicking motion. No hands. No arms. And no head-butts.

“I didn’t know where the puck would bounce and the angle I was at I couldn’t really get a stick on it to bat it out of the air,” White said afterward. “It was a heat of the moment thing. My head was there and I’ve seen soccer players do it so I might as well try it.”

This is not the first time we have seen a goal like this disallowed. During the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs Andrew Shaw tried to score a goal with his head IN OVERTIME only to have to disallowed.

Shaw appreciated White’s effort:

@colinwhite37 hats off buddy! Epic play! #headbutt

— Andrew Shaw (@shawz15er) January 5, 2020

The sequence with White happened just 30 seconds after Tyler Johnson gave Tampa Bay the lead. Alex Killorn added an empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining to give the Lightning their sixth win in a row.

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at [e-mail] or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.