Both the New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues were left scratching their heads Saturday after a third-period sequence resulted in a disallowed goal on one side and a four-minute major on the other.
With St. Louis leading 2-1 with just over two minutes remaining in the game and the Islanders’ net empty, Bo Horvat scored what appeared to be the game-tying goal.
But instead of being awarded the equalizer, officials immediately called off the goal for goalie interference after Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri crashed into Blues netminder Jordan Binnington.
Palmieri, Binnington and St. Louis defenceman Justin Faulk all crashed to the ice at the same time on the play. But things didn’t all come up St. Louis, as Faulk hit his head on the way down and his stick sprang up, catching Jonathan Drouin in the face.
Faulk was ultimately given a four-minute penalty for high-sticking, putting the Blues on the penalty kill for the remainder of the period.
While St. Louis managed to kill off a penalty and escape with the win, head coach Jim Montgomery questioned why the Islanders were even awarded the man-advantage.
“I’m going to talk to the supervisors. Faulk gets run into, and that’s why the goalie interference happens. I don’t know how he’s in control of his stick when it looks like he’s injured,” Montgomery said post-game, per The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford.
“He left the bench for a while because of the way his head hit the ice. Also the puck went in the net. It’s a play that’s after the whistle. So there’s a couple things I just want an explanation on.”
In the other locker room, there was undoubtedly some frustration that Horvat’s goal was waved off, as it appeared that Palmieri may have been bumped into Binnington by Faulk before the puck went in the net. Islanders head coach Patrick Roy, however, didn’t think he would have gotten the play overturned if he had challenged and felt his power play would be able to convert with the two-man advantage.
“I think (Palmieri) went in by himself,” Roy said post-game. “And I know there was a bump afterwards, but we had a two-minute six-on-four. We were confident we could do something with that.”
St. Louis managed to buckle down and finish off the victory, though, snapping a four-game losing streak and improving to 7-9-6.