Braden Holtby made what appeared to be a game-saving save as the clock expired on Thursday night in Game 4, but technically, he didn’t have to.
A clock malfunction gave the Bruins an extra 5.3 seconds to try and tie the game, which they could not cash in on. Had they scored in those 5.3 seconds, however, the goal would not have counted and the Capitals still would have won the game.
According to The Associtated Press, the league “immediately was aware” of the clock problem, “and, therefore, would have disallowed a goal with 5.3 seconds or less showing on the clock.”
The problem stemmed from crowd noise that led to a miscommunication that extended the game. The clock operator realized that time needed to be added to the clock with 9.5 seconds to play. However, when off-ice officials tried to get the attention of the on-ice officials by sounding the horn, crowd noise was too loud for them to hear it.
As a result of the confusion, the clock started 5.3 seconds late.
