Okay, so here's the play in question:
Link to video
It is very easy to say the Referees made a horrible, horrible mistake. But did they? There was clearly no immediate scoring chance on the play, but there's a little bit more to Rule 63 (Delay of Game). A penalty shot CAN be awarded if there is insufficent time left in regulation to serve a full minor penalty if the net is dislodged by its own player. The rule is in no way tied to an immediate scoring opportunity or the location of the puck. It just has to meet the qualifications for being a minor delay of game penalty AND have less than 2:00 to go in regulation. The net came off with just 1:24 left in the game.
So the time part is fulfilled. But was that a minor penalty for delay of game? That's the other part needed for a penalty shot here.
I don't think so. Let me quote the rule.
63.2:
"A minor penalty shall be imposed on any player who delays the game by deliberately displacing a goal post from its normal position...."
And here's the part about the penalty shot from 63.5:
"If by reason of insufficient time in the regular playing time or by reason of penalties already imposed, the minor penalty assessed to a player for deliberately displacing his own goal post cannot be served in its entirety within the regular playing time of the game or at anytime in overtime, a penalty shot shall be awarded against the offending team."
The key word here (that I intentionally avoided using in my descriptions above the quotes) is deliberately. The time has to be right AND a deliberate displacement.
I really do not see that play as a deliberate displacement of the goal post. He ran into it, but he made an effort to stop. He didn't lift up with his hands or hit it with a great deal of force where it was obvious the net was going off. The right call, in my mind, would have been nothing. Whistle the play dead because the net's loose and faceoff in the Islanders' defensive zone. Yes, he did kinda lift up with his shoulder, but still. That doesn't look like it would have been enough to knock the net off. There's not enough evidence to prove it was a deliberate move in my mind.
I know some people are more spirited on how a this play possibly could have been considered a penalty shot situation saying it is "absurb" or "horrible" and "you should be outraged". The puck wasn't in the crease. There wasn't a breakaway. Even the linesman #76 seems confused about the penalty shot as he appears to be gesturing towards the penalty box because of the call against Steit.
The Referee must have thought the net was intentionally displaced.
Bare with me. Ignore what you just watched and assume that a player did deliberately displace their net, even though the puck wasn't in a scoring opportunity whatsoever, in the final two minutes of play in regulation. Erase that video from your mind for a bit. Assume the net was intentionally displaced by random hockey player in the last two minutes. Assuming that's true, then a penalty shot is the correct thing to have happen.
That being said, again, I don't think that net was deliberately displaced in that above video you can now think about again. But the penalty shot seems a little less absurb in light of Rule 63.5. Still wrong, but more understandable. The Ref got one part right, but seemed to misinterperate the other part.
Just wanted to share that little tidbit in the rules. I know I must appear to be an apologist that sides with the officials a lot, but in general: a deep look at the rules tends to back the officials up. However, other times it leaves me yelling at my computer because the rules were ignored in a crucial way. This call leaves me scratching my head about the word "deliberate", but also opened the door for me to do some educating about penalty shots for anyone who didn't know it's not always about scoring chances and puck position.
