The celebration began at the 1:40 mark of overtime. It appeared that Lightning defenseman Andrej Meszaros had just won the game on a shot from the point. The Lightning players mobbed the ice congratulating their player on a job well done.
Then the Zebra said no. Referee Frederick L'Ecuye ruled that Tampa Bay forward Paul Szczechura interfered with Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick and disallowed the game-winning overtime goal.
Strangely, Szczechura wasn't issued a penalty for goalie interference as the contact was deemed incidental.
So, he interfered with goalie enough to eliminate the game-winning goal but not really enough to draw a penalty. Riiiiight.
"A terrible call," Lightning goalie Antero Niittymaki told the St. Petersburg Times , "We won that game. I don't know what happened. It's a terrible feeling. It's nothing to do with you or your team-mates. It's something you can't control. We're all human. We all make mistakes."
Szczechura had made obvious contact with Quick, but was driven into the goaltender by a Kings defenseman.
Rule 69.1—interference with a goaltender—states if an attacking pla ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by JC De La Torre
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