Oilers’ Bouchard has buzzer-beater called off due to goalie interference

Another day, another goal waved off due to goaltender interference.

Less than 24 hours after Mason Marchment’s would-be series winner was waved off due to interference with the netminder halfway through their first overtime period, the Edmonton Oilers were on the receiving end of such a call.

Controlling the puck in the offensive zone in the dying seconds of the first, Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard ripped a shot from the point that beat Vancouver Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs with 0.3 seconds remaining. Officials immediately waved off the marker due to incidental contact with the goaltender.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch was given the option to challenge that call, but elected not to.

“If you look at it from the overhead, Connor McDavid goes into the crease on his own accord, and even though he gets squeezed in between (Teddy) Blueger and Silovs, the fact that he goes in there on his own accord wipes out everything else,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on the Hockey Night in Canada first-intermission panel. “This was the right call at high-speed, it was the right decision not to challenge. The Oilers would have lost this challenge.”

A bit of deja-vu for hockey fans who witnessed a similar sequence on Friday night in Colorado, when the NHL situation room upheld a controversial no-goal call on the ice after Dallas Stars forward Matt Duchene made contact with Avalanche goalie Alexander Georgiev.

Though that no-goal call had the potential to be a series-altering moment, the Stars were able to pot another in double overtime to advance to the Western Conference Final. Bouchard did exactly that mid-way through the second, potting a no-doubter to pad the Oilers’ lead.

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