Rangers Back On Track?

Blues roster

Hlavac's first goal might the weirdest this season. That's because the goal was awarded while the Rangers were in the dressing room between the first and second periods.

"When I came out on the ice for the second period, the guy said it was a goal," Hlavac said. "That was a big surprise."

Hlavac scored the goal with 51.7 seconds remaining in the first period by poking a rebound past Blues goalie Roman Turek. The puck sat on the goal line for few seconds before being cleared away and the goal was not called by the referee or the goal judge.

Play continued until the end of the period without a stoppage and the teams skated off to their dressing rooms. Because there had been no stoppage the stoppage before the end of period, officials reviewed the play during intermission and ruled it a goal.

"When a situation like that happens around the net that close, the video goal judge marks the time on the clock immediately and you review at the next play stoppage," Supervisor of officials John D'Amico said. "The play continued to the end of the period. We reviewed it through the intermission of the first period and phoned down to the referee that it was a goal. What they have to do then is put the time back on the clock, which was 51.7 seconds."

Whatever the case Rangers coach was more than happy to start the second period with a 2-0 lead.

"That's the modern era, I guess," Rangers coach John Muckler. "You use everything you have, including the TV."

Predictably the Blues didn't agree with the ruling and disputed the puck ever crossing the goal line.

"I've never seen it after the period," Quenneville said. "It wasn't conclusive at our angles."

"I think it never crossed the line," Turek said. "After intermission, we came back and it's 2-0. I was surprised. After the second intermission I looked up and it's still 3-0 and I said, 'Good, they didn't give them another one.'"