Nashville Predators have legitimate reasons why the goal shouldn’t have counted
There was more controversy in the NHL on Tuesday night. No, it wasn’t involved goalkeeper interference. This time the controversy involved a goal by the Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Johansson on the boards, not in the net, in overtime against the Nashville Predators.
A REALLY WILD ENDING! ?
Marcus Johansson secures the Subway Canada OT winner for Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/By1CCyVZc2
— Sportnet (@Sportsnet) November 5, 2025
There are two sides to every outcome. The Wilds are happy that they won, while the Predators are annoyed that they lost. And let’s be honest: the Predators have legitimate complaints about why they believe the goal shouldn’t have counted.
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Before you get into this, keep in mind that the referee’s call on the ice was a goal. Officials believed Predators goalie Justus Annunen deliberately knocked off the net, preventing a goal. So that means indisputable video evidence is needed to overturn this appeal.
The NHL Situation Room agreed with the on-ice officials. It is still unclear who made the decision, but after the replay it was determined that the Wild had won the game and Marcus Johansson’s goal stood. with reference to article 63.7.
The decision was made in accordance with Rule 63.7, which states: “In the event that the goal post is moved, intentionally or accidentally, by a defensive player, before the puck crosses the goal line between the normal position of the goal posts, the referee may award a goal.
For a goal to be awarded in this situation, the goal post must have been moved by the actions of a defensive player, the attacking player must have impending scoring opportunity before the goal post is moved, and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts.”
However, the explanation leaves much to be desired and is open to many interpretations. Look, even Steven Stamkos of the Nashville Predators, during a conversation with Fox Sports Nashville’s Lyndsay Rowleyinterpreted the rule completely differently than what the call on the ice was.
Well, I guess Toronto finally called. Obviously one of the referees who called it an on-ice goal thought our goaltender pushed the net away on purpose and therefore denied him the opportunity to score.
But it is clear that everything has two sides. Our team thought the net was clear, but he missed the shot and went wide. If the net hadn’t been in the corner it was in, the puck would have gone behind the net and therefore he wouldn’t have had a second chance.
So if we stay true to the rule. And our interpretation of it is, if the net isn’t right and it directly affects a goal being scored, then we don’t have a problem with that, but the original shot didn’t go in and the puck bounced back to him because the net wasn’t right. So there we were, a little confused.
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The Predators don’t deny that the net came loose. However, it was the second time the net came loose in the match. And Annunen didn’t hit the net that hard to knock it off. However, the referees determined that Annunen had deliberately knocked off the net to prevent a goal. This is an important assumption of both the civil servants and the Situation Chamber.
Well, that was Wild!
The @mnwild win in it @Energizer overtime! ? pic.twitter.com/J4aVooBRPT
— NHL (@NHL) November 5, 2025
Several other options could have taken place. Suppose the net doesn’t come loose and Kirill Kaprizov’s pass to Marcus Johansson still gets through, does Johansson even score? The way it was angled, that puck goes behind the net or at least to the outside. Maybe Justus Annunen will make a save from Johansson there. We’ve seen that before.
The NHL has a problem with goalie interference
The fact that the puck came back to Johansson after the first shot should have caused the whistle. Good on Marcus Johansson for playing until he heard the whistle. That’s what you learn as a child. Play until the whistle. But this wasn’t a sequel. Therefore, the whistle should have blown and the game should have been stopped.
But without an official explanation about who called, even the answer is open to interpretation.
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