Bruce Cassidy Left Without Challenge When Ducks Were 'At Least A Foot Offside' On Go-Ahead Goal

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- There may be no franchise in the NHL that's less of a fan of the offside challenge rule than the Boston Bruins.

While the Bruins have been the beneficiary of a call or two over the past two years, it certainly feels as though the majority of the time, they end up being on the wrong side of the blue line by 1 centimeter.

And on Wednesday night in Anaheim, the Bruins had the opportunity to actually benefit from the rule, when Nick Ritchie entered the attacking zone well before the puck crossed the blue line:

The linesman missed the obvious call, and Ondrej Kase jumped on the loose puck, eventually getting it behind the net to Ritchie for a wraparound attempt before Josh Manson buried a loose puck for a go-ahead goal late in the second period.

It was the perfect time for Bruins interim head coach Bruce Cassidy to use his challenge and get the goal taken off the board. But there was one problem: Cassidy didn't have his challenge, because he unsuccessfully used it to try to wipe out a goaltender interference call on Brad Marchand -- a call which negated a David Pastrnak goal.

With the benefit of hindsight, Cassidy admitted that he regretted his decision from earlier in the game.

"Oh, it was offside. It was at least a foot offside. So, me challenging earlier, clearly came back to haunt us later," Cassidy told reporters in Anaheim. "But when you make those challenges, it's quick. You consult. And I felt that March was out of the way of the goaltender when the puck went in the net. He was outside of the blue paint. They didn't feel the same way, so I lost the opportunity later on. Tonight, I clearly could have used it because it was offside."

The goal proved to be a big one. Frank Vatrano scored for the Bruins in the third period to tie the game, but Rickard Rickell scored the game-winner after a defensive breakdown by the Bruins with just 2:34 left to play in the game. The Ducks were awarded an empty-net goal later on, and they snapped the Bruins' win streak with a 5-3 win.

"Well, it sucks, because I thought we played hard to get back into the game against a good hockey team that defends well. I think the guys are frustrated," Cassidy said of giving up the late goal. "The positive with that is we knew we could've won that hockey game if we just take care of a few things here or there. There's nothing worse than going out of a game thinking you had no chance. We definitely had our chance. We had a chance in the second period to extend the lead. We didn't finish. He made saves, we hit pipes; whatever you want to call it. There were a lot of positives. It's just, you hate to come all the way back and get scored on late in the game like that. And we've had a bit of that issue throughout the year, some late goals, so clearly we've got to clean that up."

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