You be the judge...

you could see from the camera that the puck didn’t fully cross the line…
even the ref called it off, nearly banging himself on the post

I’m sick of this crap. First it was the waved off, four-second, in the goal, behind the line, worst call ever in the NHL earlier this year, now this. There needs, NEEDS to be a better way to tell when the puck crosses the line. Maybe it was in. Maybe not. Personally, I would call no goal. Maybe the Wings didn’t even deserve to win this one after giving up a two-goal lead, but they didn’t deserve to lose like this. Jimmy had it. The shot wasn’t good enough to deke him. This crap better stop by the playoffs, or the NHL and I are going to have a friggin’ problem.

didn’t think it was a good goal…….

Talk about a fubared call……..

Rob Martell might have been the closest official to the play. But when Howard turned to his right, saw the puck had gotten by him he swiped at the puck not once, but twice. On the second attempt, he backhanded it out and was almost parallel with the goal line. When Martell looked down, Howard’s glove was blocking his view of the puck.

Secondly, Lonnie Cameron was on the other side and was able to see the puck inside Howard’s open glove. Mike Leggo was able to, as well. Yes, he was about 30 feet away. But both Leggo and Cameron had unobstructed views of the puck while Martell did not.

And I suspect when all three got together, Martell probably told them that he waived it off because he was partially obstructed and never saw it cross the goal line.

And I think we can all agree that if it didn’t cross the goal line, it did so by the slimmest of margins.

That having been said, I still don’t think it was a goal. I’ve looked at this play about 50 times tonight from multiple angles and have yet to see one angle prove that it ever crossed the line.

Which gets to the heart of the issue on these reviews. On a play like this, it either crossed the line or it didn’t. There’s no gray area. So how can you set a standard where the only way video review can reverse a call like this on the ice is if there’s “conclusive” evidence.

What constitutes conclusive? Half the puck being on the goal line?

What they need to do is establish a standard where the burden of proof is on the goal, itself. If there’s any doubt on video review that the goal didn’t cross the goal line and there isn’t a camera angle showing the puck crossing the line, then it’s no goal, no matter what the call on the ice is.