Where’s the NHL’s Situation Room when you need them?
A goal from Washington Capitals forward Vincent Iorio went unnoticed on the ice during Thursday’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
With the Caps up 4-1 in the third, Iorio walked the puck in from the boards and fired a shot that whistled past the ear of Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kolosov. The puck bounced out as play continued, much to Iorio’s surprise.
The officials huddled at the next stoppage to discuss the play. Unfortunately, they could only go by what they saw on the ice. The NHL’s Situation Room – who would normally review these aituations automatically – is not actively reviewing all plays during the preseason; they weren’t on duty for this one.
Without a definitive conclusion, the stripes had to go with the initial call.
Referee Beau Halkidis broke the news to the fans in Hershey, PA, home of the Caps’ AHL-affiliate Hershey Bears: “No goal on the play.”
The officials may not have been able to say for sure, but Iorio was confident that the puck had crossed the line.
“I knew it went in,” Iorio said after the game. “You could just tell by the way it sounds. It’s part of the game, and you’ve gotta move forward.”
His coach agreed.
“I sort of figured it was in because of the sound. You could tell,” said Caps bench boss Spencer Carbery. “We knew it wasn’t a challenge game, so we knew there was nothing we could do. We were hoping they were going to huddle … and put that goal on the board, because our video coaches in the back said that went in. Thankfully the score was in hand so it wasn’t a huge deal for the outcome of the game.”
Officials for the game were referees Beau Halkidis (#48) and Brandon Blandina (#39), with Ryan Jackson (#84) and Tommy Hughes (#65) on lines.
