Thursday marked a bizarre — and worrisome — moment during regulation in an NHL game.
The Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood was injured in play while the Sabres continued on to put the puck inside the net as he rolled on his back in pain.
The goal was counted by the officials and a melee ensued after that.
It's not common for coaches will question NHL officiating because it almost always results in a fine, but Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar felt it was necessary to stand up for his player while also enraged with the referees' negligence after the game, calling the incident "insanity."
"For them to just let it go and then allow the goal is insanity to me," he said. "It's a player safety thing."
Colorado's Parker Kelly clashed with Buffalo's Zach Benson in front of the net, causing Benson to fall onto the back of Wedgewood's leg. The Sabres recovered the loose puck, and Benson capitalized with a wraparound goal after four seconds passed on the clock.
A paramedic rushed out to tend to Wedgewood, who then needed help exiting the ice.
The rationale for allowing the play to continue was that the Colorado player knocked into a Buffalo player, which then interfered with Wedgewood.
"The referees said it wasn't blown because we put their guy into Scott," Bednar said after the game. "I said I don't give a (expletive). He's hurt."
But the official ruling is because Colorado never regained possession of the puck. If they had, the play would have been blown dead immediately.
In the NHL rule book, it states, "When a player is injured so that he cannot continue to play or go to his bench, the play shall not be stopped until the injured player's team has secured control of the puck. If the player's team is in control of the puck at the time of injury, play shall be stopped immediately unless his team is in a scoring position."
Even though the referees followed it on this play, because it happened to the goaltender and considering officials usually stop play for similar occurrences, Bednar took morale issue.
"If they (the Sabres) would have loaded up (Rasmus) Dahlin for a one-timer for a 105 mph slap shot, they're going to just let it (expletive) happen with our goalie down in the net? You can't do it."
The Avalanche challenged the goal and lost, which put them on the penalty kill. They subsequently killed the penalty and went on to win a mismatched game against an inferior opponent 6-5 in overtime.
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