Bruins lose go-ahead goal in Florida on review due to hand pass
BOSTON -- For large chunks of their first-round series against the Panthers, the Boston Bruins haven't really resembled the team that bulldozed its way to all-time records in the regular season. Yet a quick one-two punch in the second period of Game 6 appeared to indicate that the Bruins were back.
Alas, a Florida challenge took away what would have been the second leg of that punch, taking Boston's go-ahead goal off the board.
The reason for the overturn was that prior to Brandon Carlo scoring a goal, Jake DeBrusk had ever-so-slightly directed a pass to Patrice Bergeron in the corner. That redirection of the puck was not seen on the ice, as play continued for several seconds with the puck cycling around the Panthers' zone before the goal.
Nevertheless, Paul Maurice challenged the play, and the NHL ruled that DeBrusk had indeed redirected the puck to Bergeron.
The NHL rulebook defines a hand pass thusly: "The play shall not be stopped unless, in the opinion of the on-ice officials, [a player] has directed the puck to a teammate, or has allowed his team to gain an advantage, and subsequently possession and control of the puck is obtained by a player of the offending team, either directly or deflected off any player or official."
That language notably does not require the batting of the puck to have been intentional for the call to be made.
DeBrusk clearly tipped the puck while lifting his hand to grab his own stick, and the puck did directly go to Bergeron after that contact with the puck was made, so the call was not controversial in that sense. Yet in the sense of that particular type of contact typically not being considered a hand pass, it was certainly a unique instance to say the least.
Instead of a 3-2 Boston lead, the score remained tied at 2-2 ... but not for long. The Panthers scored a go-ahead goal a little over a minute later.
With the Panthers fighting for their playoff lives for the second straight game, and with the Bruins looking to put an end to this hard-fought first-round series, the replay review on the hand pass figures to stand as a rather significant moment.
The Bruins ended up losing, 7-5, thus setting up a win-or-go-home Game 7 on Sunday in Boston.
