Sorry, folks. That wasn’t a goal.
Based on the reaction on social media, Winnipeg Jets fans wanted the head of referee Wes McCauley after he waved off a would-be 2-0 goal for the club on Saturday night against the Nashville Predators.
But it just wasn’t, as McCauley suggested as he vigorously waved it off after Pierre-Luc Dubois had jammed his stick at the puck under Preds starter Juuse Saros with 3:24 left in the second period.
And it’s probably a good thing the Jets ended up winning the game 2-0 in the end. McCauley and his crew may have needed a police escort out of Canada Life Centre to James Armstrong Richardson International otherwise.
Hyperbole aside, Rule 31.2 in the NHL rulebook teaches how disputes such as Dubois’s waved-off goal are handled.
Specifically, it states: “As there is a human factor involved in blowing the whistle to stop play, the Referee may deem the play to be stopped slightly prior to the whistle actually being blown. The fact that the puck may come loose or cross the goal line prior to the sound of the whistle has no bearing if the Referee has ruled that the play had been stopped prior to this happening.”
McCauley headed straight to the off-ice officials sitting between the penalty boxes to review the play with the league’s Situation Room.
The result was confirmed as McCauley intended.
“The Referee informed the Situation Room that he blew his whistle to stop play before the puck entered the Nashville net,” a release from the league read.
The so-called “Intent to Blow” rule, folks.
Don’t shoot the messenger.
Oh, and by the way, MoneyPuck.com has Winnipeg’s chances of making the playoffs up to 76% now.
Pionk-y Tonk Man
Amongst the players, he’s known as Peeler. It’s not nearly as fun as the Pionk-y Tonk Man, however.
Let’s just say the media does a better job with nicknames.
I digress.
Neal Pionk had an exceptional game on Saturday night, factoring in on both of Winnipeg’s goals.
On the first, he parked his bus in front of Saros as Scheifele curled around the top of the zone, dropping down to pump his 40th of the season to make it 1-0.
The second was Pionk’s 10th of the season, trailing the play and finding some soft ice for Nikolaj Ehlers to deposit a perfect pass to make it 2-0.
“I knew he was coming,” Ehlers said of Pionk. “So it was just a matter of letting those three guys go deep enough for him to be open for me. He comes in at a perfect spot and he rips that one home. It was nice.”
Pionk’s season started so brilliantly, with him cranking an overtime winner in Colorado on Winnipeg’s inaugural road trip. It slowed in the middle stages, however, perhaps due to an injury that he played through.
But over the past couple of games, the usually spry Pionk has returned and it’s come at a crucial time with three games left and a playoff spot to cement.
Speaking of Ehlers…
He won’t be giving Scheifele a hard time for hitting the post on a first-period feed from the Dane.
“Absolutely not,” Ehlers said. “Because that’s going to happen to everyone in here at some point. I’m not saying anything.”
Ehlers had a tremendous game on Saturday, named the first star of the game after flying around the ice all night, contributing his assist on Pionk’s goal and four shots in the game.
Good things happen when you give him more ice time, unsurprisingly.
Ehlers even shook off a missed high-sticking call early on, one that caught him in the chin, drawing blood.
Unhappy at the time, the win helped him reconcile the whiff by the zebras.
“Stuff happens,” Ehlers said. “Definitely didn’t feel good, but that’s hockey.”
Two other things…
Kyle Connor trying to flip a puck late in the third period to Mark Scheifele to send him in on a breakaway isn’t what Rick Bowness wants.
The same goes for Dylan Samberg’s unforced icing a little later
The Jets need to learn fast that shutting down a game is going to be job No. 1 if they have a lead in a playoff game. Good teams will kill you for trying to get cute or making unforced errors.
Perfetti update
The 21-year-old rookie was spotted on the practice ice on Saturday morning as many of his teammates, taking the optional morning skate at Canada Life Centre, were beginning to depart.
It’s the first time we’ve seen Perfetti taking a couple of strides since he was injured in a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils in the final week of February.
His presence alone was enough to bring a smile to the faces of those still around, but he’s still not expected back any time soon.
“We’re going to give him a couple of weeks,” head coach Rick Bowness said, confirming it was Perfetti’s first day back on skates. “He’s going to need that. He missed a lot of time.”
Whether or not the Jets are still playing in two weeks remains up in the air, as Bowness pointed out.
“Let’s make sure we’re playing in two weeks so we can use him,” he said. “I think that’s the key here.”
sbilleck@postmedia.com
Twitter: @scottbilleck
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