McDavid blasts offside rule after Oilers have goal called back
After the Edmonton Oilers had their tying goal against the Nashville Predators in the final six minutes wiped out by an offside review, captain Connor McDavid sounded off on the rule, calling for it to be canned completely.
"I ultimately feel they should just take the rule out," McDavid said, according to Rob Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun. "The number of calls that are a millimeter offside 45 seconds before the play don't have much of an effect on the goal itself. I think the fans want to see offense."
Oilers goal overturned after Preds challenged for offside, two looks (r @brolo397) pic.twitter.com/b5v1vKhA9i
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 10, 2018
A millimeter appears to have been the margin of error for forward Jujhar Khaira, who entered the zone with his back skate slightly off the ice. It was so close that even the linesman, who was within arm's reach of Khaira, originally ruled the play onside.
The call was especially aggravating for a team that played one of its better games after entering the contest with losses in six of its last seven.
"We battled back hard and found a way to tie up the game and the guy's an arm hair offside and they call it back," McDavid said, according to Marc Ciampa of EdmontonOilers.com. "It's obviously hard to agree with the rule and the video challenge but it didn't go our way, but if it's on your side you love the rule."
Just chatted with NHL Hockey Ops VP Colin Campbell who says he intends to bring this up again (skate in the air over blue-line) as a point of discussion at March GMs meetings. Will have a column on it for @TheAthleticNHL later today https://t.co/imO3Kb61Qq
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) January 10, 2018
The Oilers will enjoy two days off before having another chance to get back in the win column against the 31st-ranked Arizona Coyotes.