Ranking the most memorable no goal calls in Islanders history

The history of the New York Islanders is filled with goals.

From Tonelli to Nystrom, Bossy’s 50 in 50, (Pat) LaFontaine from the blue line, Shawn Bates’ penalty shot and most recently, Josh Bailey OT playoff winner. But there’s also the other side of the coin, where there were big goals scored which were called back. Even this year, there were a few instances of when the Isles found the back of the net, only to not be awarded the goal (Anders Lee against the Rangers ring a bell?)

Some of them were definitely more memorable than others, and a few even had a lasting effect on not only the game, but for a period of time.

We start with a double dose of bad luck from last year’s playoffs.

MATHEW BARZAL IN GAME ONE AND DEVON TOEWS IN GAME TWO VERSUS CAROLINA

Note: the Islanders had pretty much outplayed the Canes in the first two games of their second-round tilt. But somehow they weren’t victorious. That was aided by not getting the calls when Barzal and Toews both lit the lamp.

Barzal’s goal, which would have given the Islanders the first goal and lead of the series, was reversed after it was determined that captain Anders Lee interfered — weakly I will add — with Hurricanes’ goaltender Petr Mrazek. Instead, the goal was disallowed and the Islanders didn’t score the rest of the game and ended up falling in overtime 1-0.

Two days later, the Isles were leading 1-0 on a goal from Barzal when it looked like Toews had doubled the lead late in the second period. Aucontraire. Toews rush to the net led to the puck caroming off his skate and of Canes’ netminder Curtis McElhinney into the back of the net. Again, the tally was called back and what followed basically changed the entire series. The Isles went scoreless after that moment and Carolina would score twice just before the ten-minute mark in the third and steal the game and a 2-0 series lead heading back to Raleigh.

BRENDAN WITT’S TYING GOAL IN GAME FOUR IN THE ’07 PLAYOFFS

The Islanders had gone toe-to-toe in their best-of-seven quarterfinal matchup in 2007 with the number-one seeded Buffalo Sabres but still found themselves down 2-1 heading into game four.

Game four was a tight affair, with the teams combining for four goals of the night in the first period. But down 3-2 in the dying minutes of the third, it looked as though the Isles had tied it.

With 1:42 left in regulation, d-man Brendan Witt had pushed the puck past Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller. But it was waved off when the referees determined that Miller had been pushed into before Witt scored.

The scene that occurred after the call was ugly and effectively ended any chance of the Isles sending the series back to Buffalo for a pivotal game five.

Ted Nolan: “I don’t care what anyone says, that’s a goal. Witt banged it in the goal and then [Miller] got pushed.”

Garth Snow: “You tell me, what should I think? It’s been like this since I was a player in 2001. Calls like this happen [to the Isles] on a regular basis.”

That call basically was the deciding factor in the series too, as the Islanders’ season ended a few days later in a blowout by the Sabres.

VANEK KICKED IT IN

This call probably is the most notorious regular season disallowed goal in the last decade for the organization.

Thomas Vanek, who was with Buffalo during that aforementioned playoff series six years prior, was brought in by the Isles via trade earlier that ’13-’14 season in return for Matt Moulson. He, John Tavares, and Kyle Okposo had formed one of the most formidable lines as the season progressed.

In late January, the Isles hosted the St. Louis Blues in a Saturday matinee with both needing points to stay in the race for the postseason. The two teams played a competitive game needing overtime to decide the winner. And it looked like it was over when Vanek had beat St. Louis goalie Jaroslav Halak. Then it happened.

The referees conferred and the goal was called back for an “intentional kicking motion”. The entire building was in shock and livid to a degree.

Vanek and the Islanders never recovered. They lost the game 4-3 in the shootout and lost the second of what would be five games in a row.

“I don’t know if it’s who we are,” Vanek said after that call. “If that’s Pittsburgh or a top team, that’s maybe a goal. It’s just a terrible call. We all know what a kicking motion is.”

The Isles season also took a downward spiral following that day. A month later, Vanek was traded for next what in essence was a bag of pucks.

TOM KUHNHACKL’S SNIPE THAT BEGAN A SWEEP

Everyone knew that the Islanders needed to come out flying for game one of the first round a year ago. With a raucous Coliseum crowd behind them, they did just that. But not even three minutes in, depth forward Tom Kuhnhackl ripped a shot past Matt Murray for the first goal of the series, which sent the crowd into pandemonium.

As you can see from the clip above, Kuhnhackl didn’t know whether to celebrate because the play might not have counted. He was right. The replay showed that as he entered the zone, Matt Martin was still inside the blue and couldn’t drag his skate to get onside.

The goal was called off, but the moment itself set the tone for the entire series.

Jordan Eberle would score a minute later and the Islanders would never look back, winning all four games.