Stanley Cup playoffs: Controversial goal upends Stars-Jets Game 3

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The Dallas Stars took a 2-1 series lead over the Winnipeg Jets in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday night after a controversial goal gave them a late lead in Game 3.
Alexander Petrovic scored with 16:09 left in the game. However, the goal was not an easy one to call. NHL officials initiated a video review and watched the sequences for more than five minutes to determine whether Petrovic kicked the puck into the net.
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Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, #37, Alex Iafallo, #9, and Morgan Barron, #36, talk with linesman Jesse Marquis, #86, as the Dallas Stars celebrate a goal scored by Alexander Petrovic in the third period of Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas on Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Eventually, the officials determined Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck propelled the puck into his own net. The goal gave Dallas a 3-2 lead at the time. The Stars won the game, 5-2.
Jets coach Scott Arniel took issue with the officials’ interpretation of the rule that allowed Petrovic.
“The rule states that if the puck gets kicked, if it hits a body or a stick of anybody else other than the goaltender, it counts as a goal. It hit our goaltender’s stick and went in the net. That is no goal,” Arniel said. “So they said that Helly propelled the puck in, and I haven’t seen the word propelled in the rulebook.”
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, #37, lays by the net as Dallas Stars’ Sam Steel, #18, and the rest of the line celebrate a goal scored by Alexander Petrovic, in pile against the boards, in the third period of Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas on Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
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Stars coach Peter DeBoer said he was glad officials took the time to review the play to “get it right.”
The puck initially came off of a Mikko Rantanen shot. It ricocheted off Hellebuyck to his right and then off of Petrovic’s stake and back toward the net.
“I saw him kind of kick it, but I didn’t see a replay of it. … I thought it was 50-50 probably, but thank God they called it a goal,” Rantanen said.
Petrovic, who scored in the playoffs for the first time in nine years, called it a “lucky goal.”
NHL fans were not enthused and expressed it as much on X.
Rantanen scored 49 seconds after play resumed.
Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel, left, talks with referee Chris Rooney, #5, in the third period of Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Dallas Stars in Dallas on Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
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Game 4 is set for Tuesday in Dallas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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