Rangers forced to return to ice from locker room after goal review at intermission vs. Bruins
The strange situation was the result of a goal that wasn’t initially awarded during play, but was later determined to have crossed the line.
The strange situation was the result of a goal that wasn’t initially awarded during play, but officials later determined that the puck crossed the Rangers’ goal line. Winslow Townson / Imagn Images
The Boston Bruins cruised to a runaway 10-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Saturday’s matinee contest at TD Garden, but the final score wasn’t the only oddity from the contest.
After Rangers players had walked down the tunnel to their dressing room for the first intermission, they were forced to return to the ice to replay the final seconds of the first period.
The strange situation was the result of a goal that wasn’t initially awarded during play, but officials later determined that the puck crossed the Rangers’ goal line with 33 seconds left in the period.
What a BIZARRE ending to the first period…
The Bruins and Rangers both left the ice but turns out the puck crossed the line with 30 seconds left so both teams had to come back out of the locker room to finish the period 🤯 pic.twitter.com/zcIkDJQtLU
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 10, 2026
Boston was attacking late in the frame with a two-man advantage when the puck bounced off the skate of Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and into the net. Officials initially thought Braden Schneider was able to prevent the puck from crossing the goal line, and allowed play to continue until the time expired on the period.
Once officials determined it was a goal, they put 33 seconds back on the clock to be played again. Rangers players had already headed to their dressing room, but the Bruins stayed on their bench, anticipating the ruling.
“That’s why we have two video coaches in the room,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said after the game. “They caught it right away. The play was still going on, and we already knew it was in the net. We just wanted to make sure. That’s why we all stayed. Because we already knew before that it crossed the line. So good on our guys to catch that right away.”
After a review, the goal was awarded to the last Bruin to touch the puck, Pavel Zacha. It was Zacha’s second goal of the game, and gave Boston a 3-1 lead. The Bruins went on to score seven more goals in the final two periods to set a new season-high for goals in a game, including a third by Zacha to complete his first career hat trick.