In the fight for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, every point counts. And down the stretch of the season, the Islanders appeared to have snatched a crucial two points away from the Columbus Blue Jackets in dramatic fashion on Monday night.
Instead, a game-winning goal was ruled out and the Isles remained outside of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference with just 12 games to play.
With the score tied and under 10 seconds to play, Kyle Palmieri drifted from behind the goal to right in front of the Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins and was in the perfect position to redirect Alexander Romanov’s shot past into the Columbus net for a 4-3 lead.
However, referee Michael Markovic immediately began to emphatically wave off the go-ahead goal, judging Palmieri to have interfered with Merzlikins when the two came in slight contact on the edge of the crease just before the Romanov wrist shot.
After a conversation with the other referee and the linesman and then a lengthy review by the league office in Toronto, the call of no-goal on the ice was upheld.
“If Toronto is afraid to overturn calls made by their referee [on the ice], we don’t need Toronto,” Isles head coach Patrick Roy said. “That’s all I want to say.”
The man at the center of the controversy was more blunt.
“I think it was f—-ing embarrassing,” Palmieri said of the call.
The league’s explanation of the call: Palmieri impaired Merzlikins’ “ability to play his position in the crease prior to the goal.”
“I don’t understand it,” forward Bo Horvat said. “I don’t understand what’s the goal and what’s not anymore, so I think that’s the frustrating part, is there’s no black and white… He kinda clipped the back of Palms’ leg and [the goaltender] kinda stumbled but he still had plenty of time to make that save. And Palms a great tip and, to me, that’s a goal all day long on the ice.
“I don’t know what’s good and what’s not anymore and that was one of worst [no-goal calls] I’ve seen.”
THE ISLANDERS SCORE WITH LESS THAN 10 SECONDS TO GO… but wait 😭
The play is under review. pic.twitter.com/rhLSuzkGRg
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 25, 2025
Good goal??? #Islespic.twitter.com/joD38cUdjk
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) March 25, 2025
The Islanders took the lead with less than 10 seconds left….then the goal was disallowed 😳 pic.twitter.com/4tHvygNyek
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 25, 2025
After a goalless overtime period, the Islanders had to settle for just one point when Columbus’ Adam Fantilli scored the lone goal in the shootout sinking New York to a 4-3 defeat.
The single point was of no consolation.
“It’s just really getting frustrating when we’re pushing for a playoff spot,” Horvat said. “It’s obviously a game-winning goal late in the hockey game. And to me, it’s just unacceptable.”
The shootout loss gave New York its 74th point on the season after 70 games played, but the decision kept them a single point behind the Montreal Canadiens, who have a game in hand, for the final Wild Card spot. On the outside looking in, the Isles are level with the Rangers on points but have played one fewer game and Columbus moved up to 73 points on 70 games with the win on Monday.
Palmieri was asked if he got an explanation for the call and said the referees told him there was “contact initiated in the crease and I guess the goalie needs five minutes to get reset and ready for the shot.”
“It looked like he couldn’t wait to wave it off,” he said of the referee.
Roy, the former legendary Stanley Cup-winning goalie himself, thought Merzlikins pushed Palmieri away and the forward was outside the crease. When asked how he would instruct players to play around the crease, the head coach pointed to the league.
“I don’t know what to say anymore,” Roy said. “I mean, if you’re outside the crease I always thought that that was the place to be. That’s all.”
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