Head-butting a hockey puck into the net isn’t a scoring strategy you typically see in hockey, but that’s exactly what Andrew Shaw did as the Hawks continued to battle the Anaheim Ducks in double overtime during Game 2 of the Western Conference Final.
While the team celebrated and fans cheered at the thought of the already-long game coming to an end with a Hawks win, the referees didn't.
The play was reviewed and the goal was overturned.
According to the NHL’s rulebook, the reason behind the no-goal call was Rule 78.5, which states a goal will be disallowed "when the puck has been directed, batted or thrown into the net by an attacking player other than with a stick."
This wasn't the first time that Shaw had been involved with a disallowed head-butt goal. In a junior league hockey game in 2011, former Ducks winger Devante Smith-Pelly used his head to knock a puck into the net, and it was eventually disallowed. Shaw happened to be playing for the opposing team that evening, so perhaps that's where he stole the idea from?
At any rate, the call may have upset Chicago fans who were already up well beyond their bedtimes, but it appears rules are rules. The Hawks went on to win the game in triple overtime with a goal by Marcus Kruger.
