Quenneville fuming after failed challenge bites Blackhawks

The new rule governing lost offside challenges cost the Chicago Blackhawks in a loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night, and coach Joel Quenneville was not happy about it.

So what was Quenneville so upset about?

Chris Stewart scored to give the Wild a 2-1 lead midway through the third period, and the Blackhawks bench boss challenged the play hoping Minnesota forward Jason Zucker would be deemed offside carrying the puck in before setting up Stewart for the go-ahead marker.

Instead, it was ruled that Brent Seabrook carried the puck into his own zone, preventing an offside call.

"(Seabrook) didn’t carry it and didn’t have possession, so I disagree with that ruling," Quenneville said after the game, according to Mark Lazarus of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Plus it was offside. I mean, why didn’t he blow the whistle? Unless he knew that rule and thought he had possession? Or he thought he carried it or controlled it?"

But the goal call was upheld, and because of the NHL's new policy of assessing a penalty against the team that loses an offside challenge, the Wild went on a power play as a result. Zucker scored on the man advantage to make it 3-1 for Minnesota. Stewart followed that with another goal, and the Wild cruised to a 5-2 victory.

The NHL reiterated the Seabrook possession ruling and offered an official explanation postgame, citing Rule 83.1, which states, in part:

"If a player legally carries or passes the puck back into his own defending zone while a player of the opposing team is in such defending zone, the off-side shall be ignored and play permitted to continue."

This is the first season the league is penalizing teams for failed offside challenges.