DENVER — Given the amount of goaltender interference commotion in the NHL this season, a controversial ruling was bound to happen in the postseason. Two days into the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s already a topic.

In the second period of the Colorado Avalanche’s 2-1 Game 1 win against the Kings, Logan O’Connor whipped a shot past Los Angeles’ Anton Forsberg. The goalie, though, had taken a bump from Jack Drury that put him out of position to make a save. The referees waved the goal off before the goal horn could finish blaring.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar challenged the ruling. In his eyes, Kings defenseman Drew Doughty propelled Drury into Forsberg.

“(Doughty) disguised it pretty well, but (he) backs into him, knocks him off his edges, into the goalie and we shot in the net,” the coach said. “To me, I’d like to see it count.”

The rulebook states that contact from a player shoved into the goalie “will not be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player” as long as the offensive player made a reasonable effort to avoid the goalie. Bednar hoped that part of the rule would lead to the officials overturning the on-ice decision. But after the review, the referee announced the call stood.

In its news release explaining the decision, the league said, “Colorado’s Jack Drury interfered with Anton Forsberg, impairing his ability to play his position in the crease prior to the puck entering the net.” Asked if he could’ve avoided Forsberg, Drury said, “I don’t know. That happened so quick.”

“Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t,” O’Connor said. “Obviously there’s been a lot of dialogue about goaltender interference across the league.”

Dialogue indeed, including at this year’s general manager meetings. It likely will be a point of conversation at some other time these playoffs. Bednar has expressed confusion over goaltender interference rulings multiple times this season, at one point telling reporters, “I have no idea what it is, still to this day.” He said he wasn’t surprised he lost the challenge Sunday.

The sequence didn’t end up hurting the Avalanche, who killed the ensuing Kings’ penalty. Even if the goal didn’t count, the overturned goal showed how Colorado’s fourth line of Joel Kiviranta, Drury and O’Connor can be effective. None of the three are elite finishers — Kiviranta is the only one with more than 15 goals in a season (16 in 2024-25) — but they can forecheck hard, defend effectively and won’t shy away from getting to the net. With that line on the ice, Colorado led 12-4 in five-on-five shot attempts and had 52.29 of the expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick.

“It’s hard work and relentlessness,” Bednar said. “Every time they hit the ice, they’re giving it everything they got, and they’re playing to the identity of that line and of each other, and they made a huge impact. … They spent the bulk of their time playing in the offensive zone and pursuing pucks. And I think that’s exactly what we need from them.”

O’Connor’s bottom-six line during the 2022 playoffs, which included now-retired Darren Helm and Andrew Cogliano, played a key role in the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup. Colorado’s depth should be an advantage again these playoffs, just as the fourth line showed against the Kings.

O’Connor, who missed all but 13 games this season recovering from hip surgery, is a big reason why. He didn’t score a goal during the regular season but picked up Sunday where he left off in a strong 2025 postseason. Undeterred by the overturned goal, he seized a loose puck early in the third, burst past Cody Ceci in the offensive zone and finished past Forsberg with a wrister. He raised his stick in celebration.

“OC’s so fast,” Drury said. “I feel like he does that a lot, where he isn’t even in the picture, and then all of a sudden, he has the puck.”

Drury, who had an assist on the play, didn’t see the goal play out live. After flinging the puck into the offensive zone, he and Kings winger Jeff Malott got tangled along the benches. They were shoving each other as O’Connor completed his slick finish. The goal horn let Drury know the result.

“I was fired up,” Drury said. “I think we’d had some good shifts, and it was just great for OC to see that go in. He’s worked really hard to come back and I think he’s been really good the last few games.”

O’Connor is the only member of his line with a Stanley Cup ring, but the other two have plenty of experience. Kiviranta made the Cup Final with Dallas in 2020 — he had a Game 7 hat trick, complete with an overtime winner, against Colorado in the Western Conference semifinals that year — and Drury reached the Eastern Conference final with Carolina in 2023. The trio won’t score every game like it did against Los Angeles, but it should be able to provide exactly what Bednar needs. He called it a line he “can trust against anybody.”

“That’s all because of the hard work and commitment that they have,” he said.

Added O’Connor: “Our game translates well to playoffs. It’s a lot of simplicity and muck-it-up and just wear teams down.”