NHL to consider rule change following controversial Game 4 OT winner?

It was a storybook ending. On Wednesday night, Nazem Kadri scored the overtime winner for the Colorado Avalanche upon returning to the lineup from a thumb injury which required surgery just over two weeks ago. No one could have written it better, except for the fact that it appeared the Avalanche had six skaters on the ice when Kadri scored. After the heartbreaking loss, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper vented about the call on the ice and in fact he felt like the goal was scored illegally… but he wouldn’t elaborate on how exactly, presumably for fear of being fined or suspended by the NHL. He then exited his post-game media availability without entertaining other questions.

“And my heart breaks for the players. Because we probably still should be playing.”

While Cooper called it “an unfortunate non-call” on Thursday, he had managed to get reporters and analysts rewinding multiple angles and and checking the play frame by frame. This prompted TSN insider Pierre LeBrun, guest on Overdrive with Bryan Hayes, Jeff O’Neill and Jamie McLennan to discuss what happens to the officials on a missed call like the one that occurred on Kadri’s OT winner and why he doesn’t want this to lead to a rule change.

“One of my fears out of this if you really want to broaden the scope of what this could all mean, if that whenever something like this happens, there tends to be a bit of an eager reaction to come up with a rule change. If you remember, when San Jose scored in overtime in a playoff game a number of years ago off a hand pass against St. Louis, that did lead to an actual rule change.

“I hope this doesn’t lead to a rule change. […] You can’t review everything, at some point, you have to trust the four people officiating the game.”

While the chatter of a potential rule change remains on the surface for now, the NHL did issue a statement on Thursday to explain what took place on the ice during Game 4 and their position on the controversy.

Do you fear like LeBrun that this ordeal could lead to a rule change next season?