(Buffalo) The National Hockey League (NHL) admitted it made a mistake when it denied the Buffalo Sabers a goal on Friday night in a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers.
The goal denied to the Sabers was scored in the last minute of the game and would have tied it 2-2.
According to a statement released on Saturday by the NHL, vice-president Colin Campbell admits that the goal scored by Victor Olofsson with 57 seconds remaining on the clock should have been awarded because the video replay does not “determine definitively” whether the Sabers had committed an offside entering the zone.
Sabers head coach Don Granato brushed aside the NHL’s apology during his press briefing ahead of Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals.
“I don’t really have a reaction,” he said. It’s difficult for me to comment. You asked me about it after the game and I will tell you that my approach is this: we cannot play the “poor me” card. We just can’t. ”
The goal was disallowed after the replay showed Sabers defenseman Rasmus Dahlin crossed the Rangers blue line before the puck. What the umpires failed to consider, however, was whether Olofsson touched the puck before Dahlin stretched his skate over the blue line.
But since the replay was deemed uncertain, Campbell concedes that the referees should have followed NHL policy and upheld the decision made on the ice, which was to allow the goal.
Without disputing the ruling, Granato revealed after the game that he asked the referees if it was possible to revisit the streak to determine if Dahlin had time to return to touch the blue line. He was reportedly told that the NHL had made its decision.
“I can’t be emotional about this,” said Granato. There are things that are beyond your control and you just have to play. You trust the league knows what it’s doing and you move on. ”
The loss extended the Sabers’ winless streak to 0-5-1. The team have won just three wins in their last 19 clashes.