EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) 鈥� to make all the right moves on the Edmonton Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup Final.
The coach who took over in November by the Florida Panthers at a crucial juncture of Game 6 of the final. The offside call took a goal by Aleksander Barkov off the board 10 seconds after Adam Henrique scored to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead, a turning point in the game they won 5-1.
鈥淭he offside call, it鈥檚 a nice break to go our way, for sure,鈥� forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "At the end of the day, he鈥檚 got to make the call, so it鈥檚 probably a little stressful to make that call at that time of game.鈥�
Officials in consultation with the NHL鈥檚 situation room in Toronto found Sam Reinhart was in the zone maybe an inch before Barkov carried it in. The sellout crowd of over 18,000 roared when Chris Rooney announced that the play was offside and waved off the goal.
鈥淚 actually didn鈥檛 think it was that close,鈥� Knoblauch said. 鈥淚n my mind it was definitely offside, but I guess you never know. It was something I wanted to challenge almost immediately when I saw it.鈥�
Knoblauch all playoffs has pushed the right buttons, whether it be a goaltending change in the second round or tweaking his lineup throughout. Had the challenge been unsuccessful, by league rules Edmonton would have gotten a two-minute minor penalty and put Florida on the power play with the chance to tie it.
鈥淚t was very tight," center Leon Draistailt said. "I personally thought it was the right call, but you never know. Knobber has the right touch. He knows what he鈥檚 doing, and he seems to make the right decisions a lot more often than not. That was a big one.鈥�
Knoblauch credited video coach Noah Segall and video and coaching analytics coordinator Mike Fanelli for their role in the decision.
"The guys in the back room, I鈥檝e sat back there and watched them do their job," defenseman Darnell Nurse said. "They鈥檙e so to the point and analyzing everything. Obviously, they were very confident and they made the right call. It was a huge point for us.鈥�
Panthers coach Paul Maurice did little to hide his disbelief when the goal was taken down, screaming at officials from his spot behind the Florida bench. Afterward, he said he was upset initially because he did not see the angle that the league and officials got to overturn the goal.
鈥淭he linesperson informed it was the last clip that they got where they made the decision that it shows it鈥檚 offside,鈥� Maurice said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what the Oilers get. I don鈥檛 know what the league gets. I just know that when I would have had to have challenged that based on what I saw, I would not have challenged. I鈥檓 not saying it鈥檚 not offside. We鈥檒l get still frames, we鈥檒l bring in the CIA and we鈥檒l figure it out, but in the 30 seconds that I would have made that call, I would not have challenged it.鈥�
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AP NHL playoffs: and
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
