Elliotte Friedman breaks down Dallas Stars' controversial goal in Game 3 win over Jets- "No way this is going to count"

Elliotte Friedman shared his thoughts on the controversial goal in Game 3 between the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets. Speaking on the 32 Thoughts podcast on Monday, Friedman said he understood why Jets fans were upset. He explained that after reading the NHL rulebook, he believed the goal would not count.

"I completely understand why the jets and their fans are furious," Friedman said. [18:15] "When I read the rule book on the plane, I went back and I double checked it, I said, There's no way this goal is going to count.

"So everybody there who was upset and angry about it, I get it. I My initial reaction was zero chance that this is a goal."

The incident happened early in the third period of a tied game. Stars' defenseman Alexander Petrovic scored after the puck hit his skate, then Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s stick, before going into the net. The goal was reviewed for over five minutes. Eventually, the NHL upheld the on-ice call and ruled it a good goal.

Friedman said the review took so long that arena speakers played the full guitar solo of the song “Free Bird.” He joked that maybe the officials waited just to hear the song. But he also explained that the NHL video room often gives weight to the referees' original decision. In this case, the on-ice officials felt Stars' Petrovic directed the puck but didn’t kick it.

"So there's a few things here," Friedman said. "Number one, even though the video room has the final say, I've heard, they are really trying to let the on-ice officials have a real say in the outcome... didn't see it as a kick lock... And the other thing here is they called it a goal. So now, under the Betterman standard,... is the call dead? Bleeping wrong."

Friedman said the NHL may not want to overturn goals unless there is clear proof.

"The second thing is, if you read the rules, it says, If a puck is kicked in, and if a puck is kicked and it deflects," Friedman said. "They didn't feel this was a simple deflection. They think that, put it into the dance."

After the goal stood, Mikko Rantanen scored again for Dallas 49 seconds later, making it 4-2. Rantanen had one goal and two assists in the game. The Dallas Stars won 5-2 and now lead the series 2-1. Now, Game 4 will be played in Dallas on Tuesday.

Jets coach Scott Arniel disagrees on Stars' goal

Jets coach Scott Arniel disagreed with the decision and said the puck was kicked, then went off Hellebuyck’s stick, which should have made it no goal. Arniel said the NHL told him that Hellebuyck “propelled” the puck into his own net. Arniel pointed out that the word “propelled” does not appear in the rulebook.

"So they said that [Hellebuyck] propelled the puck in, and I haven't seen the word propelled in the rulebook," Arniel said, via TSN.

Jets goalie Hellebuyck has struggled in road games this postseason. He gave up five goals to the Dallas Stars on 26 shots in Game 3.