Natasha and I caught a Senators pre-season hockey game last night, a chance to check out the new team-members and watch the coach juggle new lines a little. As a pre-season game the stakes weren’t very high, but the Sens were a little scattered and timid about taking shots when opportunities presented themselves.

Right in the final minute of the game something really unusual happened – desperate for a goal to tie things up, the Sens rallied and drilled a couple of shots at the net and one slipped past, setting off the red siren and sending everyone into a cheer, but the ref called it “no point”, claiming he’d already blown the whistle, even though it was clearly a goal up on the big screen as they replayed it over and over. (I’ve since read that there’s a ‘no replay checking’ policy during the pre-season)

So they face off again with seconds left next to the Panther’s net, the Sens grab the puck, drill it at the goal, and it’s in AGAIN, and AGAIN the ref calls “no point”, this time I don’t know why. The chorus of boos were too thick to get an explanation through. Basically the Sens tied it and won it in the final minute of the game, but the score on record is 2-1 Panthers.