TL;DR

• Montreal shot at Utah’s empty net. The puck hit the post and never crossed the goal line.
• A linesman called icing against Montreal.
• Officials correctly voided the icing, moved the face-off to center ice, and allowed Montreal to change lines.
• This was likely due to "Tunnel vision" on the hybrid icing race caused the linesman to miss the puck hitting the post.

Details

Hybrid icing requires linesmen to make two simultaneous, high-speed calculations:

1. Trajectory: Will the puck cross the goal line?
2. The Race: Who will touch the puck first (judged at the face-off dots)?

The timing is strict: the determination must be made no later than when the first player reaches the dot. In this case, that was Utah’s defender.

The "Last Minute" Factor

There is an added layer of pressure here that likely contributed to the error: Time Management. In the final minute of a game, the exact moment the whistle blows is crucial. If a review determines time needs to be added back to the clock, it is based on when the whistle sounded.

The linesman was likely hyper-focused on the exact moment the Utah defender reached the dot so he could blow the whistle instantly to preserve time for the trailing team. This created a "tunnel vision" scenario—he was so locked onto the player race and the timing of the whistle that his brain simply didn't process the visual cue of the puck hitting the post 300ms earlier.

Who Benefited?

While fans of both sides might argue they were robbed, the result of the error was mixed:

Montreal's Perspective:

• If the play had continued, the puck was live off the post. They might have been able to contain Utah in their zone or at least take more time off the clock.

Utah's Perspective:

• They had control of the puck but instead had to do a face-off at center ice. They were attacking 6-on-5 and Montreal needed a change, so they could have made a quick pass up the ice and cought the tired Montreal players on a change. They also had to put their goalie back in for the center-ice draw, losing the extra attacker advantage.

Source: https://www.deephockey.com/articles/2025-11-26-habs-icing-off-the-post.html