EDMONTON, Alberta (Associated Press) Chris Knobloch continues: The Edmonton Oilers make every move right to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Coach appointed in November Succeeded in the goal The Florida Panthers scored in a key moment in Game 6 of the Finals. Ten seconds after Adam Henrique had given the Oilers a 2-0 lead, Aleksander Barkov's goal was ruled offside, marking the turning point in a game the Oilers won 5-1.
“The offside call is certainly a good opportunity for us,” forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said, “and at the end of the day, he's got to make the call, so it's probably a little stressful to make that call at that time of the game.”
Officials, consulting with the NHL's situation room in Toronto, found that Sam Reinhart had been in the zone an inch or so before Barkov brought the ball in. The sellout crowd of more than 18,000 erupted in cheers after Chris Rooney called the play offside and called the goal off.
“Actually, I didn't think it was that close,” Knobloch said. “It was definitely offside in my opinion, but you never know what's going to happen. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to challenge it.”
Knoblauch has been pressing the right buttons throughout the playoffs, from switching goalies in the second round to tweaking the lineup throughout. Had the challenge failed, Edmonton would have received a two-minute minor penalty, per league rules, and Florida would have had a chance to tie the game on the power play.
“It was a tough game,” center Leon Dreisteilt said. “Personally I think it was the right call, but you never know what's going to happen. Nover makes good decisions. He knows what he's doing and seems to make the right decisions a lot of the time. It was a big call.”
Knobloch thanked video coach Noah Segal and video and coaching analysis coordinator Mike Fanelli for their contributions to the decision.
“The guys in the backroom, I was sitting back and watching them work,” defenseman Darnell Nurse said, “They're very on-point, analyzing everything. Obviously they were very confident and made the right calls. That was a big point for us.”
Panthers coach Paul Maurice couldn't hide his disbelief when the goal was called back, yelling at the officials from his seat behind the Florida bench. He said afterward that he was initially upset because the league and the officials didn't understand the angle at which the goal was overturned.
“The linesman told me that's the last bit of footage he called it offside,” Maurice said. “I don't know what the Oilers are going to get. I don't know what the league is going to get. But when I had to appeal it based on what I saw, I wouldn't have appealed it. I'm not saying it wasn't offside. I'll get a still and I'll call the CIA and figure it out, but in the 30 seconds that I made that call, I wouldn't have appealed it.”
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AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
