Thomas Vanek Claims League Bias On Game-Winning Goal Reversal

The Islanders and Blues were tied 3-3 in overtime when Thomas Vanek scored what appeared to be the game-winner. It looked like it hit his skate but the red lamp lit, the referee pointed at the net and Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak skated off the ice without incident. Replay eventually reversed the call, though, and Thomas Vanek thinks that's some bullshit that wouldn't have happened to a team like the Penguins.

Replay is tricky, but it shouldn't be this tricky. The folks up in Toronto ruled that Thomas Vanek ran afoul of the rule that says a player cannot " use a distinct kicking motion to propel the puck into the net."

The puck clearly hits his skate, but even assuming that we are trying to prove that the goal should be disallowed—which is the exact opposite standard we should be using when reviewing a call made in real time—Vanek appears to be dragging the puck over so he can get it on his stick. That's the sense you get from the last, most incriminating view, at about 2:20 of the video above. That is the best you can say about that replay and that's just as iffy, if not more so than the call on the ice.

Vanek, after the game, felt the call reflected the Islanders' standing in the league.

"I don't know if it's who we are," Vanek continued. "If that's Pittsburgh or a top team, that's maybe a goal. It's just a terrible call. We all know what a kicking motion is."

The goal was wiped off and the overtime ended without either team scoring and the Blues won in the shootout.