At 5:27 of the second period, Sidney Crosby beat New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin’s high side in front of the goal to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 1–0 lead:
However, the Islanders believed the play was offside.
Noel Acciari’s skates were still on the ice, using the far bench in the Islanders zone, as the Penguins broke the blue line.
It seemed crystal clear that the call would be reversed, and after a long review, you felt like there was a good chance for a change.
But after the officials took off the headphones, the play was deemed onside. New York trailed 1-0 and was assessed a penalty for delay in the game.
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy clearly disagreed:
After the match, Roy decided to talk about the failed challenge on his own:
“As far as the coaching challenge goes, I still believe it was offside,” Roy said. “What I need to understand is that if your foot is still outside the bench, this may or may not be considered, and that’s what I need to understand from the league. So I’ll back up my video, guys, and I think they made the right decision.
“I have to understand it, because at the beginning of the year they talk to us about whether your skate is in, that’s a warning to too many men. Is your skate in the ice? Is it fair game or not? I gotta understand.”
Here was the NHL’s explanation: “The Situation Room examined two events leading up to Sidney Crosby’s goal. The puck first made contact with the shaft of Rickard Rakell’s stick in the neutral zone and second, Noel Acciari had both skates off the ice for a legal line change before Rickard Rakell entered the offensive zone.
So to get things straight. Acciari was not off the ice when the puck entered the Islanders zone, but he was before Rakell entered the Islanders zone.
MSG broadcaster Brendan Burke also commented on the NHL’s ruling:
No. Once your feet leave the ice on the players’ bench, you are considered off the ice. If a player had the option to dive into the bench instead of retouching, this would work on any delayed offside.
— Brendan Burke (@brendanmburke) November 6, 2024
The Penguins were smart not to carry the puck over the blue line, otherwise it would have been considered offside. But because they dumped the puck, Acciari had time to get off.
