Gabriel Landeskog said he was just as surprised as anybody, but he wasn’t blaming the officiating after a game-tying goal was called back on an offside challenge in Game 7 Wednesday night.
The goal, which came at the 7:49 mark of the second period off the stick of Colin Wilson, would have changed the complexion of the game entirely. The Avs were trailing 2-1 at that point and ended up losing 3-2 in the deciding game where the winner would advance to the Western Conference Final.
The Colorado Avalanche captain coughed up the puck deep in the San Jose zone. Exhausted, and perhaps frustrated, he worked his way to the bench for a line change. Barclay Goodrow, who got the puck, ended up turning it over just outside his own zone, allowing Nathan MacKinnon to streak in, center the puck for Wilson, and tie the game.
Momentarily, at least.
“I came off and all of the sudden two seconds later we score,” the Avs captain told reporters in San Jose after the game. “I didn’t think anything of it, to be honest with you.”
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Peter DeBoer used his coach’s challenge on the goal and the review was placed in the hands of the NHL’s Situation Room.
“After reviewing all available replays and consulting with the Linesman, the Situation Room determined that Gabriel Landeskog did not legally tag up at the blue line prior to the puck entering the offensive zone,” the league’s official email regarding the goal stated. “The decision was made in accordance to Rule 83.3 (i), “All players of the offending team clear the zone at the same instant (skate contact with the blue line) permitting the attacking players to re-enter the attacking zone…"
The good goal call on the ice was overturned.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen that before but it’s just a clumsy mistake,” Landeskog said. “Get off the ice... If I could have done something different on that play, I would have jumped the boards a lot quicker.”
Avs coach Jared Bednar said that type of offside call is rare.
“In a Game 7, even more so,” he said following the game. “That player has nothing to do with the play that’s going on. It seems like such a minute detail, whether he’s onside or offside. So it’s strange, you know? It’s strange. And it’s something we could have done without tonight, no question.”
Landeskog, who was praised after the game for the way he handled the situation, said that hopefully, the linesmen got the call right.
“I don’t envy their position at all to make that call in a Game 7 like this,” Landeskog said. “It’s a tough job and a tough call have to make. Hopefully, they got it right. But I’m going to take the blame for that because I could have done a lot of things different. Ultimately, my skates were on the ice.”
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Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck