The Edmonton Oilers put themselves in a position where a controversial call could put them on the ropes, and that’s exactly what happened Sunday night.

Despite holding 2-0 and 3-2 leads, they couldn’t find a way to quell an unrelenting Anaheim Ducks team in Game 4 of their first-round series. But in the end, a controversial call is just how the game would end, allowing the Ducks to secure a 4-3 overtime win, and a 3-1 series lead.

Nearly two and a half minutes into overtime, the Oilers would lose a faceoff but nearly be able to clear it, only for the puck to remain in their zone. Out of the corner and off a Mason McTavish pass, Ryan Poehling would fling a puck on net, careening off a skate and trickling between Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry’s pads and towards the goal line.

No referees were close, with one in the corner and another in the neutral zone. The closest referee, Jake Brenk — who was drafted by the Oilers in the fifth round of the 2001 draft but didn’t play a game in the organization — didn’t signify whether the puck crossed the line or not, waving his hands in indifference once he got behind the net.

Poehling, meanwhile, started the celebrations, and the referees and linesmen began a conference at centre ice. “Sixty to 90 seconds later,” as Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch would say after the game, the officials ruled it a good goal, and off to the situation room the call went.

Thus, it put the burden on the league to be able to definitely overturn a good goal call — something they were unable to do. Assumptions aside, broadcast views of the game showed nearly all of the puck over the goal line, but Jarry’s skate covered a portion that included the puck and the goal line.

“It wasn’t very definitive,” added Knoblauch.

The NHL’s Situation Room would disagree, stating that, following video review, “the Situation Room determined that the puck completely crossed the goal line.”

Jarry disagreed.

“We were just looking at it in there, and you really can’t tell,” said Jarry after the game. “I’m sure you could go either way with it, you could say it’s a goal, it’s no goal. I’m sure there’s going to be opinions about it. On the losing side of it, we felt it didn’t go in.”

The question becomes whether there was proof that the puck definitely crossed the line.

In Game 1 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators series, Sens forward Drake Batherson deflected a shot into the glove of Canes netminder Frederik Andersen with his glove partially entering the net over the goal line.

“The entire puck has to cross the goal line, and you need definitive proof,” said ESPN rules analyst and former NHL referee Dave Jackson on the game broadcast. “So even though it was ruled a goal on the ice, you need definitive proof to prove the puck was actually across the goal line.”

One could infer when it comes to Anaheim’s goal, despite the fact there wasn’t a clear view of the puck covered by Jarry’s skate, that an assumption of the positioning of the puck was enough for the goal to stand. In Ottawa’s case, the puck being blurred within Andersen’s glove doesn’t allow there to be enough proof.

But NHL games shouldn’t be decided upon assumptions. This is, after all, a multi-billion dollar industry, and for a league that loves its video reviews, more is needed.

Controversial calls for the Oilers in the playoffs against the Ducks are nothing new. Late in the third period of Edmonton and Anaheim’s Game 5 second-round series, Ducks centre Ryan Kesler would crash the net, holding Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot’s pad, allowing Rickard Rakell to score and tie the game.

Nonetheless, the latest controversial call will likely spark further questions about improving technology on goal calls.

With the Ducks holding a 3-1 series lead, the series shifts back to Edmonton for Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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