On the goal that wasn't.

By J.P. Hoornstra on May 5, 2009 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There were many ways to describe Marian Hossa's disallowed goal that could have -- should have -- tied Game 3 at 2-2 in the third period. "Serendipitous" is a good word for Ducks fans. "Utter BS" is how one Red Wings fan described it.

In case you missed it, a whistle blew after Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller slowed, but didn't quite stop, a wraparound shot in the crease that Hossa poked in at the goal line with 1:06 left.

"We should be playing, obviously, right now," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "Two teams scored twice tonight, but it just didn't work out that way. There's no sense in complaining about the refereeing or anything like that."

"It was lucky for us," Hiller said, "but I always say you have to fight to be lucky and everybody in here fought hard tonight. I was looking at the referee behind and he waved it off right away. That's a part of hockey. Once it's a call for you, once it's against you. Tonight it was for us and we're definitely happy."

"I think the official lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle," said a typically straightforward Randy Carlyle. "He thought the puck was dead underneath the goalie, that's why he blew the whistle."

"He blatantly blew the whistle before it went in," Ducks forward Todd Marchant said. "The referee lost sight of it. He was right there, right behind the net. If he couldn't see it, he's got to blow the whistle. That is his job. I'm sure they aren't happy about it.