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Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Drew O'Connor. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

NHL challenges vs. MLB challenges: What's the difference?

By Tyler Miller | Last updated 10/13/24

The NHL has a rule that when a goal is scored, and the opposition thinks that the referee missed a potential game stoppage, such as an offside, a hand pass, the puck hitting the netting or a high stick above the crossbar, they can challenge it and the goal can come off the board.

This rule is something that should be changed soon. The referees on the ice are doing everything they can and watching as closely as they can to blow the whistles whenever a stoppage occurs. To be able to challenge a goal scored because of a missed small stoppage is absurd.

Take the recent Pittsburgh Penguins-Detroit Red Wings game on Oct. 10, for example. Penguins winger Drew O'Connor had scored his second goal of the game to increase their lead at the time to 5-2. But the Red Wings watched on their iPad from the bench and saw that they thought O'Connor committed a hand pass behind the net before the goal was scored.

So the Red Wings decided to call the referee over and let him know that they thought he missed the hand pass behind the goal, and they wanted to challenge it.

It was a very quick review as the NHL's video review room in Toronto noticed the hand pass, relayed the message to the referee and he told the crowd that he missed it and the goal was disallowed.

Detroit challenges Drew O'Connor's second goal of the night, and it's successful. There was a hand pass a few seconds before the tally. Score remains 4-2 Pittsburgh.
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 11, 2024

The game went back to 4-2, but the challenge by the Red Wings did not mean a whole lot in the result of the game. The Penguins won this game by a score of 6-3.

Now, there is something that can be hindered, and the Red Wings could not have challenged if it had happened. If O'Connor had committed the hand pass, but the puck had gone out of the zone, and then the Penguins reentered the zone and then scored, the goal would have counted.

The thing with that rule is if the game stoppage happens and is missed, but the team that scored the goal exits the zone and then comes back in the zone and scores, it would stand as a good goal.

Another example of this rule occurred in 2022 between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Vancouver Canucks. The Knights had gone ahead 5-4 in the middle of the third but had the goal taken back.

Mark Stone's goal is disallowed because of a missed game stoppage as the puck hit a camera lens onto the ice.. wow!#VegasBorn #Canucks pic.twitter.com/rnM42aTDtl
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 22, 2022

This rule in the NHL can be compared to the challenges managers can face in MLB. In MLB, you can challenge for a wrong call on a stolen base if a home run occurred, but it was called something like a double, etc.

An example of this MLB challenge occurred in the New York Yankees-Toronto Blue Jays game on April 15.

This base was stolen butt the call was overturned pic.twitter.com/7DrEfDpN36
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 16, 2024

The Blue Jays won this challenge, although the call on the field was safe, as a replay review showed the runner was out before stealing the base.

The NHL and MLB's ways of challenging a call are vastly different, and both work in their unique ways. The MLB one could be described as more efficient than the NHL one, as the NHL one requires a bit more work to handle.

The NHL one requires a bit more work because they have to take their time in the video review room, look at every angle and make sure that they make the correct call after the review.

The MLB one is more efficient because there are not a lot of things that you can challenge for, and when a manager does challenge, the video review room usually makes the right call.

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