It can sometimes be a little difficult to officiate an NHL game due to the sheer speed of the players and the puck. Like everybody else on the ice, the referees are far from perfect and sometimes miss a call, make the wrong decision or blow the whistle a little too soon.
The NHL realizes this and to help rectify a referee’s mistake when he jumps the gun on blowing the whistle, the league recently introduced what is known as the continuous play rule to ensure that legitimate goals stand.
In this article, I will explain the continuous play rule and provide video examples of it so it can be fully understood.
What is the NHL Continuous Play Rule?
The NHL covers various goal situations which are subject to video review under rule 37.3 in its rule book.
Regarding the continuous play rule, the league will review a play that sees the puck enter the net if the puck is still in motion, even if the referee has blown his whistle just before it enters the net because he has lost sight of the puck.
The NHL’s exact wording is as follows:
Puck entering the net as the culmination of a continuous play where the result of the play was unaffected by any whistle blown by the Referee upon his losing sight of the puck.
In layman’s terms:
The NHL’s Continuous Play Rule means that if a referee mistakenly blows the whistle to stop play because they lost sight of the puck, but the puck is still moving towards the net from an original shot and ends up going in, the goal can still count.
This applies only if the puck hasn’t stopped moving and wasn’t controlled by the goalie before crossing the goal line. If the goalie stops the puck and then it’s knocked into the net after the whistle, the goal does not count.
The key here is that the puck is still in motion from the original shot. If the goalie makes a save and the referee blows the whistle, even if the puck is loose and a player taps it into the net, the goal will be waved off as the whistle went before the stationary puck was deposited into the net.
When Was the Continuous Play Rule Introduced in the NHL?
The NHL’s situation room reviews all goals scored during its games and this now includes the continuous play rule, which was introduced into the league in the 2019/20 season.
Should the Continuous Play Rule be A Part of the Game?
There are usually going to be disagreements when it comes to certain rules in the game of hockey and the continuous play rule is no exception.
Some agree with it and some don’t, it’s as simple as that.
However, it’s a rule which makes sense as it doesn’t punish a team for a referee’s mistake. For example, if a player’s shot from the point happens to enter the net even though the referee has blown the whistle by mistake or too quickly as he’s lost sight of the puck, there’s no reason the goal shouldn’t be allowed.
The rule only comes into play when the the video review determines that the play or shot was unaffected by the whistle. This means the puck would have entered the net regardless of whether or not the referee blew the whistle when he did.
NHL Continuous Play Examples:
Jack Hughes Good Goal:
A prime example of a good goal due to the continuous play rule can be seen below. The goaltender gets a piece of the shot but not all of it and it enters the net even though the referee has blown the whistle before the puck crosses the goal line.
The video review confirms that the shot was still in motion and the whistle shouldn’t have been blown when it was at the play wasn’t completed or dead.
Matthew Tkachuk No Goal:
In this instance, the referee also blows the whistle while the puck was loose but since the puck wasn’t already in motion from a shot and was just sitting there, the goal is disallowed due to the quick whistle.
If the puck was already in motion, however and headed into the net when the whistle blew the goal would stand according to the continuous play rule.
Read my related post “Shooting Puck After Whistle Rule: Is It A Penalty?” here.
Ian is an experienced ice hockey writer with a passion for the game. He has been covering hockey for over 25 years and has contributed to various publications. He covers all aspects of the sport, from NHL rules to in-depth analysis of the game as well as previews. Ian is also an avid fan who attends numerous games and has played hockey regularly since moving to Canada at the age of 10.