The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Winnipeg Jets (Nino Niederreiter’s franchise) 3-2 after overtime on Monday night. It took many minutes for the officials to confirm Montreal’s second goal.

Josh Anderson finds color again. One of the NHL’s worst-performing forwards (no goals in 24 games) fell four times in the Montreal Canadiens’ last seven games. His most recent success? The opening stand against the Winnipeg Jets, on the night of Monday to Tuesday. Since then, everything has been going well for the Montreal winger Even the 2-0 goal, for which he provided a controversial assist, was finally confirmed – after endless scrutiny.

The action began with a shot from Montrealer Jesse Ylonen that deflected off Brendan Gallagher. The puck appeared in the air near Josh Anderson, who immediately pushed it in front of him with his glove and tried to set up a shot. Nothing unusual so far, as point 67.2 of the official rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) stipulates that a “The player may catch the puck in the air with his hands, but must immediately aim it at the ice or hit it“. On the other hand, he can be punished with a sanction:Minor penalty for “Close Hands on the Puck”, when he grabs it and runs with it, whether to evade an attack or gain a territorial advantage over his opponents“. This is not the case here.

Josh Anderson was unable to shoot the puck once he was back on the ice, and the puck ended up flying toward Christian Dvorak, who quickly deceived the Jets’ goaltender. The goal was confirmed in real time (and to everyone’s surprise) by the referees, who had nothing to blame the Canadiens for despite this likely hand assist. Winnipeg head coach Rick Bowness quickly challenged the decision, citing Rule 79, which prohibits a player from making a pass with his glove.

Did the puck deflect off Josh Anderson’s stick?

That’s how the viewings began – the question was whether the pass had been made directly with the glove, which would negate the goal, or whether Anderson had managed to touch the puck with his stick, which would no longer be the case at all Error and would formalize the achievement.

Although the sequence was broadcast on a loop for very long minutes, From the images, the referees could not say with certainty that the pass was made with the hand without the bat touching it. The puck rotates and the game management does not rule out a slight change in direction.

Therefore, without 100% reliable evidence, the original practical decision of granting the target was applied. However, if the performance had originally been canceled due to a hand pass, the referees would not have been able to determine that the stick touched the puck and would therefore have upheld the goal’s invalidity. So videos don’t always solve everything…

Later in the game, the Winnipeg Jets managed to tie the game at 2-2, but a goal from Justin Barron 69 seconds into overtime ended the hopes of Nino Niederreiter and his teammates.