Knoblauch, Oilers successfully challenge for offside and destroy apparent Panthers goal – Metro US

Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice screams after a Panthers goal is disallowed for offside during the second period against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup final, Friday, June 21, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP) Sign up for our Metro US email newsletter to get news, updates and local insights delivered straight to your inbox! EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Kris Knoblauch continues to make the right moves as the Edmonton Oilers advance to the Stanley Cup final. The coach who took over in November successfully challenged a Florida Panthers goal at a crucial moment in Game 6 of the finals. The offside action took an Aleksander Barkov goal off the board ten seconds after Adam Henrique scored to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead. Officials, in consultation with the NHL's situation room in Toronto, discovered that Sam Reinhart was perhaps inches into the zone before Barkov carried him inside. The sell-out crowd of more than 18,000 roared as Chris Rooney announced the play was offside and waved the goal away. “You can never be sure, but we felt like the puck still just touched the blue line,” Knoblauch said in a televised in-game interview. “You never know if you're going to get the right angle on camera, but what we saw was that we had to call this back.” Knoblauch has pressed all the right buttons throughout the playoffs, whether it be a goal change in the second round or adjusting his lineup throughout the match. Had the challenge been unsuccessful, Edmonton would have been assessed a two-minute minor penalty under league rules and put Florida on the power play with a chance to tie the score. Panthers coach Paul Maurice did little to hide his disbelief as the goal was taken away, shouting at the officials from his spot behind the Florida bench. “Huge, of course,” Mattias Ekholm of the Oilers said in a television interview afterwards. “Great work by our coaches and video coaches. I know they're up there and it's a pretty thankless job to be up there. You have to do it right, otherwise we'll be after them. They made a great call and got the momentum back on our side.” The Oilers had lost 10 of their first 13 games when Jay Woodcroft was fired and Knoblauch was hired. He coached Connor McDavid as a junior with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League a decade ago. AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL