Tortorella’s late – John Tortorella’s coach’s challenge in the closing minutes of Vegas’ Game 2 against Carolina was ruled goaltender interference and didn’t change the outcome. The Golden Knights still got one pivotal moment of redemption as Mark Stone tied late, and an overtime
RALEIGH — The question was obvious the moment the screen flashed and the coach’s challenge was coming.
With five minutes left in a 2-2 game. Vegas Golden Knights coach John Tortorella saw something he believed was worth overturning. “I saw a loose puck in front of Freddy (Andersen). our player stabbed it. didn’t move the goalie. and it goes through and went to the other side. ” Tortorella said. adding he would “challenge it 10 out of 10 times.”.
On the ice, though, the ruling didn’t budge. The dispute came after Ivan Barbashev’s wraparound attempt was stopped by a sprawling Frederik Andersen. Barbashev poked at the puck while Andersen was down. and the puck squirted underneath the goalie and crossed the goal line — but the official waved it off immediately.
NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkom explained why. “He waved it (off) immediately. He believed that it was under the goalie and the Vegas player went after the puck and interfered with the goalie and his ability to freeze the puck. and waved it off immediately.” The goal was ultimately ruled as goaltender interference.
Tortorella’s confidence, it turned out, didn’t match what video evidence could actually do in this league.
The timing of the challenge mattered, too. It came just as the Golden Knights were trying to push for a late advantage — a moment when the puck was hard to read in real time and when, in the press box, few thought the risk was worth the reward. Twenty-five seconds later, it was clear why.
Jordan Staal scored on a power-play deflection that the decision effectively handed Carolina, gifting the home team momentum after the controversy.
Mitch Marner said his bench was hoping the challenge would go their way. “The puck was free,” Marner assessed, despite what the video ultimately showed. “Barbie gets all puck there. Sometimes that’s the way the game goes.”
Then the game shifted again — and the challenge, for all its noise, ended up being only part of the story.
Mark Stone tied the game with 1:21 remaining, converting late to make it 2-2, and Carolina pulled its goalie. At that point, Vegas was where it had been before the challenge: level again.
The result set up the kind of finish this series has been promising from the start.
In overtime, Tomas Hertl drew a penalty that led to Seth Jarvis’ overtime winner four minutes in — completing an unlikely comeback that seemed unthinkable 14 minutes earlier.
Carolina’s third-period surge had already been building. It wasn’t until there were ten minutes left in the third that Logan Stankoven’s goal finally broke Carter Hart’s shutout. Two minutes later, Mark Jankowski answered with a game-tying marker.
The Lenovo Center erupted, and the dramatic line of momentum from then to the end was impossible to ignore.
For Vegas, the late twist was a gut punch. The Golden Knights had spent 50 minutes leading. boosted by two Brett Howden goals that looked poised to set up a possible sweep. Howden described the feeling of that third-period collapse as chaos. “It was wild, a lot going on, yeah, just crazy,” he said. “I mean. with the call there on the no-goal. and then a penalty… but then I thought we did a great job of fighting that and coming back with a goal there. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish it off in overtime. But we’re excited to get back home.”.
There was another worry layered over the scoreboard aftermath. Brayden McNabb’s night ended early after taking an 87-m.p.h. slap shot from Nikolaj Ehlers in the face; McNabb left the game midway through the first period.
“It’s terrifying,” Marner said of the moment. “Gonna try to check on him after here, and hopefully he’s all good. He’s a warrior who has done so many great things for us. Big miss whenever he’s out of the lineup, for sure. But our five D did a great job tonight, and they just battled through.”
The loss also ended Vegas’ seven-game winning streak. And with the overtime result, the Stanley Cup Final was evened at one game apiece heading back to Vegas on Saturday.
Marner. who had two assists including the setup of Stone’s late tally. insisted Vegas still had work to do beyond the emotional swing of Game 2. “We’re in the Stanley Cup Final — this is never going to be easy,” he said. “We’ve got to be a little smarter with some of our pucks there. I liked how we battled back in the game, got to overtime. But we’ve just got to keep advancing pucks.”.
MISRYOUM Sports News NHL Stanley Cup Final Vegas Golden Knights Carolina Hurricanes John Tortorella Frederik Andersen Ivan Barbashev Mark Stone Jordan Staal Mitch Marner overtime winner Seth Jarvis Brayden McNabb Carter Hart
So they challenged it and it didn’t count… cool cool.
I swear NHL refs always call goalie interference like it’s a magic spell. If it went in doesn’t that mean it counts? But whatever, Vegas still won in OT so it’s like… pointless challenge.
The article says it was ruled goalie interference because Vegas guy went after the puck? But I thought goaltender interference was only if you hit the goalie, not just poke at the puck? Also “the outcome didn’t change” but it says it was redemption?? I’m confused.
John Tortorella seems like the type to challenge everything, and honestly that’s probably why he’s got a job lol. But if the screen flashed and they waved it off right away, that’s shady timing. Like 25 seconds later it’s clear… clear what, that the puck magically got under the goalie but still shouldn’t count? My cousin told me it was a clean goal though, so who knows.