Shaw uses his head, and goal disallowed
If Andrew Shaw were a soccer player, his headed goal Tuesday night in an extra period would not have been unusual. It also would have counted.
But, alas, Shaw is a hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks, and hockey players are not allowed to use their heads — or any other part of their body, at least not intentionally — to knock pucks into the net.
Still, Shaw created one of the most memorable moments in the NHL playoffs so far. The Blackhawks were on the power play 8:47 into the second overtime in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks when Shaw leapt for a high floating puck and knocked it in with his head.
Shaw started a raucous celebration on the ice, thinking Chicago had tied the series at 1-1. But several on their bench, including his coach, Joel Quenneville, knew the rule book better.
The officials waved off the goal a few moments later, with the NHL explaining that Shaw had violated Rule 78.5: “Apparent goals shall be disallowed when the puck has been directed, batted or thrown into the net by an attacking player other than with a stick.”
Shaw was sheepish about the play after the game.
“Overtime goals are huge, so I tried to sell it as much as I could,” he said. “It was just exciting, the reaction at the net. I was just out there using my head, I guess.”
Some NHL players on Twitter said they did not know the play was illegal, but Shaw did. He was involved in another memorable headed goal as a junior. In a 2011 Memorial Cup game, Devante Smith-Pelly of Mississauga St. Michael’s had a headed goal disallowed against Shaw’s Owen Sound team.
Shaw, who is among the many NHL players who play soccer in the tunnels before games, said he understood the rule but thought he should still get some credit.
“I think if anyone can ever pull that off it should still be a goal,” he said. “I mean, at that point you react in the moment and try to get it in.”
But the goal did not count, and the game went into a third overtime, where Chicago won anyway, 3-2, on a goal by Marcus Kruger. Shaw was on the ice at the time and among the first to congratulate Kruger. It was the longest game in Blackhawks history, at 116 minutes 12 seconds, surpassing the previous mark of 113:50 set on April 9, 1931.
The Blackhawks are quite familiar with Rule 78.5 and all its caveats on disallowed goals. This is the third time in recent years they have had a goal disallowed in the playoffs. In a 2013 second-round series against the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago appeared to have won Game 7 with 1:47 left in regulation on a Niklas Hjalmarsson goal (assisted by Shaw, incidentally), but it was waved off because of penalties called moments before the goal was scored. Chicago ended up winning in overtime and eventually won the Stanley Cup.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference finals last year against the Los Angeles Kings, a Jonathan Toews goal was disallowed because he made contact with Kings goalie Jonathan Quick before the puck crossed the goal line. Chicago still won the game, but lost the series.
The key words in the rule are “directed, batted or thrown into the net.” Goals scored with a “deliberate kicking motion” are disallowed, as are those knocked in by a swinging arm or glove. Shaw had the presence of mind not to swing at the floating puck with his high stick. If he had scored that way, it also would have been disallowed — since he would have made contact with his stick above the height of the crossbar.