Erik Haula's penalty shot goal counts despite having to go back and get puck (video)
A bit of a weird incident in Montreal Sunday night. With under two minutes left in the first period between the Canadiens and Boston, Bruins forward Erik Haula was awarded a penalty shot after what was ruled interference by Mike Hoffman. The penalty itself was debatable. But what happened on the penalty shot was what had everyone talking on social media.
Haula would get ready at centre ice to take his shot. He skates up to take the puck, but completely misses it. At that point, he's a stride or two ahead of the puck and has to stop in order to reach back and get it. While fans boo, Haula skates in and puts a wrister past Sam Montembeault. Check it out:
When a shooter loses control of the puck on a penalty shot (or in a shootout), the attempt is over if he has to turn around and get it. In this case, the official ruling appears to be that because Haula never touches the puck from the get go, the shot hadn't really started yet.
You may recall, a similar thing happened to Haula's teammate Brad Marchand during a shootout in 2020. In that case, Marchand grazed the puck just enough to move it forward a few inches. Because of that, the ruling was that the shot was dead.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 24 | 205 ANSWERS Erik Haula's penalty shot goal counts despite having to go back and get puck (video) Should this goal have counted? | ||
| Yes, he never touched it so all good | 104 | 50.7 % |
| No, it should have been ruled dead | 61 | 29.8 % |
| I don't know | 40 | 19.5 % |
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
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