Bizarre goal sparks Florida Panthers to cruise by Arizona Coyotes

SUNRISE, Fla. –

Coyotes goalie Mike Smith didn’t think the goal would count.

He was on his belly, with his head pointed into the goal mouth and the net on top of the name bar on his jersey, when Panthers winger Shawn Thornton’s second whack sent the puck sailing over the goal line.

“It’s probably similar to goalie interference,” Smith said. “I have no opportunity to try and make a save there, and the net’s on the back of my neck.”

But not only did the play register as a goal, it kickstarted a three-goal outburst in the second period that pushed the Panthers by the Coyotes 3-1 Thursday at BT&T Center.

“It’s kind of a weird one,” Smith said. “Haven’t seen that before.”

BOX SCORE: Panthers 3, Coyotes 1

The unusual sequence started after Smith went behind the net to play the puck and lost it to winger Colton Sceviour. He fed Thornton in front and while Smith scrambled to get back in position, the net was knocked ajar.

Smith was able to make the initial save with Thornton’s shot hitting his back, but Thornton pounced on the rebound at 7:38.

“I barley even touched it,” Smith said of the net. “I think it was (Jordan) Martinook was in a battle behind the net, and his stick got wrapped up in the net. It ended up pushing it over but kind of a fluky one.”

The NHL’s situation room initialed a video review to determine if the Coyotes’ net was displaced prior to Thornton’s goal, and video confirmed the puck crossed the goal line before the net was displaced. According to Rule 78.4, the net is considered in its proper position when at least a portion of the flexible peg(s) are still inside both the goal post and the hole in the ice – which was the case.

“Mishandled the puck,” Smith said. “Two too many of those tonight and tried to battle back in to make a save there. The net ends up on top of me, and I had no idea where it went after that. The explanation was the net was still on its moorings, so it’s a good goal. But it’s one I’m not really in a good position to make a second save there. … I guess my interpretation of the rule is a little different than (what) the rule actually is.”

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Coach Dave Tippett said the goal wasn’t the determining factor in the game, instead explaining the mistakes that filled the rest of the period were – this after the Coyotes opened the scoring 3:20 into the first when winger Tobias Rieder capitalized on a breakaway by roofing the puck over goalie James Reimer.

“They turned it up a notch in the second, and we didn’t respond very well – second and third,” Tippett said. “Just make too many mistakes like that, it ends up in the back of your net. That’s what you get. It’s usually a pretty hones game. You get what you deserve.”

Florida continued to pressure Arizona en route to outshooting the Coyotes 19-4 in the second and was rewarded with a pair of goals 26 seconds apart late in the period by winger Jonathan Marchessault.

At 17:38, he buried a 2-on-1 rush with a one-timer and then finished off another odd-man look deep in the Arizona zone at 18:04 after a Jakob Chychrun pass was broken up.

“Can’t play the game like that if you expect to win,” Tippett said.

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Shortly before his second goal, Marchessault nearly put the puck in an empty net after Smith left the net again to play the puck and was picked off.

Smith finished with 36 saves with 12 of those coming in the third period.

“It’s been something all year that’s really been our Achilles’ heel is when other teams elevate their play, we either don’t have enough players that know how to handle that or we just can’t push back enough more,” Smith said. “We end up defending all game. When you defend for the rest of the game against a good team, your chances of winning are slim to none.

“So it’s been something that’s been hard for our team all year. When good teams make a push, it takes us quite a while to figure out what’s going on. That’s what happened tonight.”

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.

Key player

Panthers winger Jonathan Marchessault scored twice.

Key moment

Marchessault put the Panthers up 3-1 at 18:04 of the second period when he wired a shot by goalie Mike Smith.

Key number

2 goals by Marchessault in 26 seconds.

View from the press box

Usually a smooth puck handler, goalie Mike Smith seemed to struggle Thursday to make plays when he left his crease. He roved on the Panthers’ first goal and wasn’t able to corral the puck safely. Same before the third goal, although the Coyotes did have a chance to clear the zone after regaining possession but failed to execute. “I had a couple plays behind the net where the puck was bouncing, couldn’t make a clean play, and we give up two goals because of it,” Smith said. “But we gave up (19) shots in the second period. When a team makes a push, you gotta have guys going out there that are going to turn that back around – the momentum of the game. Tonight we didn’t have enough guys that kind of knew what was going on I guess.”