The Buffalo Sabres came so close to taking a third period lead in Monday’s Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens, but a quick whistle from the referees took the chance away.
After being down in a 2-0 hole to the Canadiens early, the Sabres battled back to tie the game in the third period to keep their playoff hopes alive. Buffalo was swarming Montreal for the final half of regulation, and the Sabres almost capitalized on a golden chance halfway through the third period. Defenseman Bowen Byram took a shot from the point on Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobeš, which was stopped. The Sabres then jabbed at the puck under Dobeš, which squeaked out and ended up crossing the goal line, but the officials waved the goal off immediately.
It might seem like the Sabres were robbed of a goal, but a referee actually blew their whistle before the puck crossed the goal line, officially blowing the play dead. The whistle was quite audible on ESPN’s broadcast and it’s very clear that it sounds before the puck crosses the goal line.
It’s a quick whistle by the referee there, for sure, which definitely is infuriating for the Sabres. However, the call is technically correct due to the NHL rulebook allowing for a “human factor” to game supervision. From the NHL rulebook, here’s Rule 31.2 that this situation covers:
As there is a human factor involved in blowing the whistle to stop play, the Referee may deem the play to be stopped slightly prior to the whistle actually being blown. The fact that the puck may come loose or cross the goal line prior to the sound of the whistle has no bearing if the Referee has ruled that the play had been stopped prior to this happening.
It’s a tough pill to swallow — and many teams have had goals disallowed off of this rule in the past — but by the NHL rulebook, the officials made the right call here in Game 7.
