Video: Controversial Call Costs St. Cloud Late

St. Cloud was desperate for a game-tying goal, trailing 2-1 in the waning moments of their Saturday evening tilt against Western Michigan on Saturday night. The Huskies appeared to score that goal with 2:09 left in the third period, but the goal was waved off by the officials.

Here is the video of the play in question:

There was a delayed penalty being called on Western Michigan at the time, and the decision of the officials was that Western Michigan goalie Lukas Hafner had possession of the puck, and that they had blown the play dead before the puck crossed the line. Watching it live, I leaned towards agreeing with the call, thinking the puck was under Hafner's pad, and it was knocked free by St. Cloud's Nick Oliver on the right side of the net. But after getting a good look at the overheard view, it's pretty clear that the puck is above Hafner's pad, and that he never really controls it, while Oliver doesn't affect the play at all. It's worth pointing out that the official that blew the play dead was below the goal line to the left of Faragher.

Both the home crowd and the St. Cloud bench were begging for the officials to go to the review booth. The four officials convened at the face-off circle briefly, but never went to video review, and really, a review wouldn't have helped much anyway, since the determination was that the play had been blown dead before the puck crossed the goal line.

The Huskies couldn't convert on the ensuing power play and ended up losing by a 2-1 score. After the post-game handshake, St. Cloud head coach Bob Motzko walked across the ice to the penalty box where the officials had convened to yell and point at the officials. Motzko also reportedly engaged with the officials off the ice in the locker room hallway after the game.