St. Louis Blues get a head-scratching penalty right before puck drop

The St. Louis Blues won a crazy back-and-forth game against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night, yet one of the most remarkable parts about this one had to be the penalty before the puck was even dropped.

Dec. 15, 2022, was the third and final meeting between the Blues and Oilers for the 2022-23 NHL regular season, and this game did not disappoint with some power-play goals, a short-handed goal, some craziness with the refs, and a shootout. The craziness started before the puck was even dropped.

St. Louis Blues get a head-scratching penalty.

Every team is required to submit their lineup ahead of a game in the NHL. However, Thursday night taught us what happens if you fail to start the group you put down on paper. The Blues skated to center ice for the faceoff with Ryan O’Reilly, Brandon Saad and Josh Leivo. However, the roster they submitted on paper did not have Saad; instead, Brayden Schenn was supposed to be out on the ice.

At the first whistle, 31 seconds into the game, the Blues were given a minor penalty for starting the wrong lineup.

It did not take long for the Edmonton Oilers to capitalize on this mishap. Thirty-two seconds after Josh Leivo went into the box to serve the penalty, Zach Hyman scored a power-play goal to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.

This game was fun to watch. St. Louis battled back multiple times to get into overtime, including a goal with 20 seconds left to tie the game up. Both teams deserved a point in this one, and I will be honest, I actually turned this one off, thinking it was done a bit too soon.

During overtime, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl connected in the offensive zone for what looked like the game-winning goal. The play ended up being called offside, and St. Louis won in a shootout.

After the win, the Blues are now 14-15-1 and are back in action tonight, visiting the Calgary Flames.