Arniel disputes Stars' go-ahead goal call in Game 3
Published
Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel told reporters after the team's 5-2 Game 3 loss to the Dallas Stars that he did not agree with the decision to let Alexander Petrovic's eventual game-winning goal stand.
With the game tied 2-2 early in the third period, Petrovic attempted to gather the puck near the net and directed it toward Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck with his left skate. Hellebuyck then tried to sweep the puck away but knocked it into the net, giving the Stars a 3-2 lead on a goal that would stand up after a lengthy review by the NHL's Situation Room.
Arniel told reporters an on-ice official explained to him that the puck was kicked by Petrovic, but Hellebuyck "propelled" it into the Winnipeg net. That explanation did not appear to sit well with the Jets bench boss.
"The rule states that if the puck gets kicked, if it hits a body or a stick of anybody else other than the goaltender, it counts as a goal," Arniel said. "It hit our goaltender's stick and went in the net. That is no goal.
"So they said that [Hellebuyck] propelled the puck in, and I haven't seen the word propelled in the rulebook."
“At that point, you want them to take as much time as they need to get it right,” said Stars coach Pete DeBoer of the play, adding that he also received an explanation indicating the goal was allowed because Hellebuyck attempted to play the puck.
“Obviously, it's a big moment,” Arniel said via NHL.com of the review. “But at the end of the day, we have to be ready. They came out and jumped on us. We have to be ready for that next shift and we gave up that quick one. But I like a lot of what we did. I don't think it got us rattled. I think that we got back on our heels a little bit on that next one and we gave up a rush against that top line."
"Obviously they got some momentum from the goal, but it's still a one-goal game at that point," Jets forward Morgan Barron said. "Regardless of the circumstances, I think we have to do a better job kind of pushing back."
The Stars made it a two-goal game less than a minute later on a snap shot from Mikko Rantanen for his ninth of the postseason and fourth of the series. Late in the third, Wyatt Johnston scored to put things out of reach and propel his team to a 2-1 series lead.
Game 4 of the second-round best-of-seven will go Tuesday night in Dallas.