Were the Calgary Flames actually screwed over by a too many men penalty?

Last night’s overtime loss against the Detroit Red Wings wasn’t the best performance of the season by the Calgary Flames. They were bailed out significantly again by their goaltender and failed to generate offence outside of the final five minutes.

All of that was forgotten though after the overtime period where the Flames were called for a too many men penalty with time winding down, eventually leading to Lucas Raymond’s game-winning goal.

There was considerable outrage online in regards to the call, with many thinking the Flames got screwed out of the extra point. After taking additional time to review the play, are those concerns valid? Let’s take a look.

What the NHL rulebook says about too many men

Penalty or no penalty, what art thou?

First off it’s clear to go directly to the rule book and note what Rule 74 actually says in regards to too many men and this situation specifically. The rule states:

Players may be changed at any time during the play from the players’ bench provided that the player or players leaving the ice shall be within five feet (5′) of his players’ bench and out of the play before the change is made.

Now going back to last night’s game, thanks to X user Tim Craig, we have a point-in-time screenshot of when the linesman made the call on the Flames:

Now, in this case, the Flames do look to have four players on the ice, with MacKenzie Weegar making his way off (albeit in a slower manner). I am no measurement specialist, but in this play, Weegar does not look like his is five feet from the bench.

Additionally, in the rule book there is a large component of “judgment” that comes into play:

At the discretion of the on-ice officials, should a substituting player come onto the ice before his teammate is within the five foot (5’) limit of the players’ bench (and therefore clearly causing his team to have too many players on the ice), then a bench minor penalty may be assessed.

So in this case, the linesman made a judgment call that Weegar was not within five feet of the players’ bench, allowing his teammates to rush back on defence. Is it the right judgment? Probably depends on what team you are cheering for.

That being said, it’s no fun for Flames fans that a game is decided on a too many men penalty.