Blue Jackets 2, Blues 1
With time running out and his team down by a goal, the St. Louis Blues' David Perron was frantically trying everything he could to get the tying score.
A video review determined he went too far.
The NHL said Perron ''gloved the puck into the net'' with 1.8 seconds left, disallowing the goal and giving the Columbus Blue Jackets a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night.
Perron conceded that he used his hand to push the puck.
''As I fell down (it) kind of hit my hand and it went in and ... that was the right call,'' Perron said. ''You don't know how it's going to turn out, how they're going to see it, but they made the right call.''
Perron had jumped on top of Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason during a wild scramble in front of the net. Mason, who was brilliant with 31 saves, said he didn't know what was happening.
''Once guys started piling in I had no idea where the puck was,'' he said. ''I didn't know if it was going to be a goal or not. You never know until they make the call. Once they did, it was a good feeling.''
It was one of two video reviews that went Columbus' way, a team suffering through a dismal season with the worst record in the league.
James Wisniewski's power-play goal was ruled to have crossed the goal line with 0.1 seconds left in the first period.
''Finally, it's nice to get a break there,'' he said. ''They reviewed it and we got the bounce that we needed to get.''
The decision on Perron's last-second attempt made Derek Dorsett's goal earlier in the third period decisive. It was only the second game-winning goal of his career. It had been 228 games since his first - in his fifth game in the league on Oct. 21, 2008, against Vancouver.
''We played hard,'' he said. ''We've just got to make sure we play that way the rest of the season and show (everyone) that we do care. We want to win as many games as possible. It doesn't matter what's at stake. If we have to be the spoilers, then we'll be the spoilers.''
Interim coach Todd Richards didn't believe the Blue Jackets got any breaks.
''To me, those are no-brainers,'' he said. ''We didn't catch a break, to me that's just playing hockey.''
Columbus captain Rick Nash is dealing with trade rumors going into the NHL's deadline on Feb. 27.
He played well, but did not speak with reporters after the game.
St. Louis, which came in with one of the top records in the Western Conference, scored when David Backes scored short-handed on the same power play that resulted in Wisniewski's goal.
Coach Ken Hitchcock, formerly the coach of the Blue Jackets, was angry with his team's performance.
''We outplayed them in the first, they outplayed us badly in the second and third,'' he said. ''They were much the better team today. We've gotten away with this on the road the last couple of games and won. Tonight we didn't.''
NOTES: Scouts from Tampa Bay, Dallas, Colorado, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Washington and Los Angeles were at the game. ... The loss was only the third in regulation in his past 20 starts since Nov. 29 for Halak, who also had 31 saves. ... Backes and Perron, who assisted, both extended their points streaks to five games.
---
Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rustymillerap .