Ottawa was on the edge of its seat Monday night as the Senators hosted the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series at Lenovo Center — and the hockey gods decided to make things very, very complicated.
The Play That Stopped Everything
With 2:42 left in the first overtime, Carolina's Mark Jankowski appeared to bury the puck and send the Hurricanes home with a 2-0 series lead. The goal horn sounded. Hurricanes players celebrated. Senators fans groaned.
Then came the review.
After officials huddled and the situation was scrutinized upstairs, the call was overturned. No goal. But the reversal didn't just reset the play — it triggered one of hockey's more obscure and dramatic rules: a penalty shot.
Why Was It Waved Off?
The sequence began with the Senators on a delayed penalty call — meaning the Hurricanes had the puck and the Sens had pulled their goalie to create a 6-on-4 advantage while waiting for the whistle. Under NHL rules, a goal cannot be scored by the team that committed the infraction while play is delayed for a penalty against them.
Because the penalty was originally called on Carolina, and Jankowski's goal came during that delayed call, the goal was disallowed. The delayed-penalty rule exists to prevent the penalized team from inadvertently benefiting by scoring before the whistle blows.
Enter the Penalty Shot
Here's where it gets interesting. When the no-goal was confirmed, officials had to determine what actually happened on the play. The Senators had pulled their goalie — and the ruling determined that a Carolina player had interfered with or obstructed a Senators skater in a way that would have resulted in a clear breakaway opportunity.
Under NHL Rule 24, when a skater is impeded on what would have been a clear-cut scoring chance with no goaltender in net, the referees can award a penalty shot rather than a standard power play. That's exactly what happened here.
The penalty shot went to the Senators, giving them a chance to score on an open net — a rare and electric moment that had the Lenovo Center buzzing in a way few regular-season games ever could.
A Night Ottawa Won't Forget
Regardless of how the series unfolds, this is the kind of moment that gets burned into the memory of a fan base. The twists, the rule explanations on the jumbotron, the referee announcements — it was playoff hockey at its most theatrical.
Ottawa's squad has been competitive through two games, and moments like these, bizarre as they are, remind fans why the first round of the playoffs is must-watch television. The Senators are showing they won't be pushed around quietly, even when the rulebook throws a curveball.
Game 3 shifts to Raleigh as the series continues, but Monday night at Lenovo Center will be talked about in Ottawa hockey circles for a long time.
Source: Ottawa Citizen
