The Rogers Place’s rink was about to melt, owing to a heated match between the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The two Canadian NHL giants were head to head with equal competition, and the fans were expecting nothing but pure hockey action. They did get it, owing to the players of both teams, but controversy took place after Leon Draisaitl’s equalizer in the third period was given as an offside by the referees.

Immediately, all fingers from the fans, especially those rooting for the Oilers, were pointed toward the NHL officials due to their decision. Indeed, that offside completely changed the course of the game by giving the Maple Leafs a slight advantage, as their opponent got under pressure in the final few minutes and had to miss out on that equalizer. Eventually, the situation reached social media, and fans had nothing but a similar reaction.

Heading to the match, the odds were mostly aligned with the home team. The Oilers were on a winning streak, and with Connor McDavid back as their captain after the three-game suspension, they were dominating on the rink. The contrast was for the Maple Leafs, as they were on a losing streak and weren’t having the best time in the league.

However, the match started with immense pressure on the Oilers after the opponent scored three goals in the first period only. William Nylander, Matthew Knies, and Bobby McMann gave their team a tremendous boost. Only a single goal was scored by the Oilers’ Evan Bouchard in the second period, and everything was headed toward the third and the last one.

With Mitch Marner’s early goal, the Maple Leafs were looking dominant already. However, the Oilers made a fantastic comeback following the goals of Zach Hyman and Corey Perry. The home team had more than five minutes on their hands, and an equalizer was looking hopeful. A few minutes later, the puck came to Leon Draisaitl, who was looking for an opportunity, and guess what he did? He scored! However, the Maple Leafs’ coach Craig Berube called for a review. And this is where the entire game changed.

Indeed, when it came to the officials’ attention, Draisaitl received the pass from McDavid, who previously got the puck passed from Oilers defenseman John Klingberg. However, as he was already inside the offensive zone ahead of the puck, the goal of the Oilers forward was given an offside. Surely, the Oilers lost a lot of motivation after the decision, and even if there were tries for the equalizer, the game ended 4-3 in favor of the Maple Leafs. And the moment this news got to social media, the fans weren’t very happy with the officials.

The Oilers’ fans united for justice after Leon Draisaitl’s offside goal

Offside in the final minutes of the game killed the mood for many at Rogers Place. If the game had gone to overtime, then it would’ve garnered more attention, owing to the drama between the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. So one fan wrote, “Terrible call, let the boys play.” Demands came in, as one fan stated, “Need to fix this rule. It should be based on if the player who is offside gained a clear advantage by being offside.” Another fan shared their thoughts, stating, “Nothing like letting irrelevant plays 30-45 seconds before determine outcomes. Only the NHL.”

But what was Leon Draisaitl’s take on this offside? The Oilers forward shared his thoughts in the post-game interview, stating, “I mean, at the end of the day, it is offside; that’s the rule, and, um, obviously, we have to live with that, but, you know, sometimes it’s obviously unfortunate that it’s, uh, centimeters.” Obviously, he wasn’t happy with the call, but he is aware of the rules of the NHL.

Well, this fan straightforwardly called out the league, stating, “Parsing plays down to literally thousanths of a second to determine if a play was offside does nothing to help the game. With all of the other judgement calls left solely in the hands of the ref, the offside review rule makes no sense. It’s stupid NHL.” Another fan wrote, “Rule needs to change. It hurts the game! If refs can’t catch it- a goal 25 seconds later shouldn’t be disallowed. NHL we need a rule change! So lame!”

Every game has its rulebook, and the same goes for the NHL. Surely, the call that the referees made for Draisaitl’s goal might be controversial, but they did nothing but follow the set of rules that were provided to them. This loss, though, didn’t affect the Oilers much, as they are still on top of the Pacific division with 68 points (32-16-4).