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Well, this is awkward. It's not often that a goal gets called a good goal on the ice, the teams skate off, one convinced that they've won in overtime, and the other resigned to the fact that they lost, and then the refs tell everyone to stay put.
That is one interesting call. Looking at the angles shown on MSG, it doesn't look like there was a clear intentional kicking motion made by Vanek. What did the Situation Room have to say about that?
At 3:45 of overtime in the Blues/Islanders game, video review determined that New York's Thomas Vanek used his left skate to kick the puck into the St. Louis net. According to Rule 49.2 "A goal cannot be scored by an attacking player who uses a distinct kicking motion to propel the puck into the net." No goal New York Islanders.
Ok then. Perhaps maybe, maaaybe, they saw a little bit of a kicking motion in there when they slowed the video down and played it 20 times like the Zapruder Film. Whatever their reasoning, the goal didn't count and the Blues went on to steal another point in the shootout.
Thomas Vanek wasn't pleased with the call, as one would expect.
"I don't know if it's who we are," Vanek continued. "If that's Pittsburgh or a top team, that's maybe a goal. It's just a terrible call. We all know what a kicking motion is."
I don't buy that the NHL or their refs favor some teams over others. Can you imagine the unholy shitstorm that would erupt if that leaked out? Good lord. But I do get Vanek's impulse to reach for an explanation - it seems needed. Coach Jack Capuano agreed with the call on the ice, but added that the folks in the Situation Room could've seen something no one did at ice level. Hitch basically said that Toronto doesn't get stuff wrong (which, coming from the coach who won a Stanley Cup off of Brett Hull's skate being in the crease, is that a shock?).
I dislike it when the Blues win games on ticky-tack questionable things. I prefer outright, non-debatable victories. If the skate were on the other foot and this same thing happened to the Blues, St. Louis fans would be just as disappointed as Islander fans are.