Reviews erase three potential goals in strange start between Canucks, Kings

If you’re a fan of on-ice reviews, Saturday’s contest between the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings is for you.

In the first five minutes of the game, both sides had goals overturned by coaches’ challenges. And for good measure, the Canucks were kept off a scoresheet within the first 60 seconds after a review.

The first replay came after Vancouver forward Evander Kane thought he may have jammed a puck past Kings netminder Anton Forsberg. It appeared as though the Canucks ultimately came millimetres away from opening the scoring, as Forsberg pinned the puck on the inside of the post, with most — but not all — of it crossing the goal line.

The review confirmed the call on the ice of no goal.

That’s just where the chaos started, though.

A little over two minutes later, the Kings raced into the Canucks’ zone, where Andrei Kuzmenko picked Elias Pettersson’s pocket behind the net before passing to Trevor Moore in the slot.

Moore didn’t miss on what was then L.A.’s first shot of the game, scoring his fourth goal of the season.

But Canucks head coach Adam Foote said “not so fast,” and sent the referees back to the headset with a challenge for offside. As Moore entered the offensive zone, he lost control of the puck as he and Kuzmenko crossed the blue line, wiping the goal off the scoreboard.

The next challenge came from the Kings’ bench after Vancouver scored with 15:17 remaining in the opening period.

Aatu Raty deflected a shot from Quinn Hughes past Forsberg for what would have been his second goal of the year. But once again, an offside ruling erased the tally.

Jim Hiller called for the challenge after Jonathan Lekkerimaki entered the zone before Drew O’Connor crossed the blue line with the puck.

Once again, the officials signalled no goal to keep things scoreless before five minutes had even come off the clock.

“I’ve never seen this,” remarked Canucks play-by-play announcer John Shorthouse after yet another review.

According to Sportsnet Stats, it is the first NHL game this season to feature multiple offside challenges.

While it may have felt that the game was destined to remain scoreless in the moment, the Kings ended up finally breaking through with just less than three minutes remaining when Anze Kopitar beat Kevin Lankinen. And he didn’t even have to face a review to make sure it was a good goal.

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