The Nashville Predators could hardly have asked for a worse start to their game against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday. They broke a rare NHL rule as they started (!) the game, leading to an early man advantage for the Kraken.
As Nashville squared up for the opening draw, Filip Forsberg joined teammates Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist, Jeremy Lauzon, Alex Carrier, and, of course, goalie Juuse Saros. And that was a big mistake.
Forty-three seconds into the game, after the first stoppage in play, referees assessed Nashville a bench minor penalty, much to the fans’ confusion. It turned out to be for an incorrect starting lineup.
Nashville Predators assessed super rare penalty
Starting lineups are submitted between warmups and the opening puck drop, and the Predators had listed Steven Stamkos, wearing No. 91, as the starter. But in fact, it was Filip Forsberg, wearing No. 9, who was supposed to start the game—and he did. According to Rule 7.2, a bench minor penalty should be assessed to the team with an incorrect lineup, and that is exactly what happened.
Many said they had never seen anything like it, and you have to give credit to the referees for being attentive enough to call it. Philip Tomasino served the bench penalty for the Predators, who were able to kill it off. Nashville did, however, lose the game 3-0, and things only seem to be going from bad to worse for the struggling Predators.
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