Shootout Drama Means Rangers Frustration

Photo courtesy of NBC Pro Hockey Talk

The Rangers just beat the Penguins in an awesome and hard-fought game in Pittsburgh 3-2 on a shootout goal by Dan Boyle.

Or did they?

Boyle snuck the puck around Marc-Andre Fleury while falling down in round 3 of the shootout to give the Rangers a 2-1 win in the shootout. Or so we thought.

The Rangers celebrated awkwardly, and both teams left the ice, but the referees stood huddled in front of the official scorer's table. A few players straggled back onto the ice before the refs officially called everyone back out to continue the shootout. Before most people could get a handle on what just occurred, Brandon Sutter beat Henrik Lunqvist with a wrist shot before Marc-Andre Fleury saved a Rick Nash shot to secure the victory for the Penguins, who had just left the ice dejected a few minutes prior.

As Sutter was about to begin his penalty shot, I received this notification:

Oops.

It was the right call, because NHL rule 24.2, Penalty Shot Procedure, states:

No goal can be scored on a rebound of any kind (an exception being the puck off the goal post or crossbar, then the goalkeeper, and the directly into the goal)

Boyle's shot hit his stick again after coming off the post, leading to it sneaking past Fleury, who had absolutely no chance to save it. So, everything in that situation went according to the book. What the refs should have done was made sure to keep both teams out of their clubhouses while reviewing the goal.

But, it's only fitting that a game that involved Lee Stempniak tying the game in the first period 15 seconds after Blake Comeau gave the Pens a short-lived lead, a 4-on-3 power play in overtime that ended with two players on each team exiting the box and playing 5-on-4 regular season overtime hockey for a few seconds before an incredible save by Lundqvist on a Kris Letang breakaway, Evgeni Malkin laying a clean, but powerful hit on Dan Girardi in the third period, sparking a scrum and seemingly concussing the Ranger defenseman, only for Girardi to return to the game in overtime would end in such a weird fashion.

And it's also fitting that the Rangers would get their fans hopes up for a couple of minutes before breaking us down again. With the loss, they fall to 7-6-4 on the season, including a terrible 1-4 record in shootouts.

Their next game should be another fun one, as they welcome Ryan Callahan, Anton Stralman, Brian Boyle, and that Stamkos dude to MSG on Monday night.