Screenshot via Sportsnet broadcast
- Pavel Dorofeyev had a power-play goal waved off in the first period of Game 3
- NHL Situation Room ruled Dorofeyev used his hand to bat the puck into the net
- Read below for the video and what happened 41 seconds later to flip the game
Vegas thought they had a goal. Then they didn’t. Then they were down by three.
The Golden Knights were already trailing the Avalanche 2-0 in the first period of Game 3 in Vegas on Sunday when Pavel Dorofeyev appeared to bury a power-play rebound with about 7:30 left. The Vegas bench went into the high-five line. Officials immediately waved it off.
After a video review, the call on the ice stood. Per the NHL Situation Room, “Pavel Dorofeyev used his hand to bat the puck, which caused the puck to illegally enter the Colorado net.”
Here’s the sequence:
Watch the video again and the play is anything but obvious. The puck pops up in front of the crease, and Dorofeyev cross-checks at it before it crosses the line. Whether his stick made contact first or his glove did is close enough that the ESPN broadcast of Sean McDonough, Ray Ferraro, and officiating analyst Dave Jackson all assumed the goal had been wiped out for high-sticking. None of them agreed with the call either way.
Greg Wyshynski had the league’s official wording:
About 41 seconds of game time later, Jack Drury jumped on a loose puck, went the other way alone on Carter Hart, and tucked a shorthanded breakaway home with 6:45 left in the first. So much for staying on the power play.
Take a look at Drury’s breakaway:
That’s the kind of swing the Avs needed. Down 2-0 in the series with the Game 3 spotlight on them in Vegas, Colorado watched a Vegas goal get wiped out and then turned the same power play into their own breakaway. Forty-one seconds, three goals up.
Carter Hart had a lot to chew on heading into the first intermission.
