Ilya Kovalchuk rewinds time with stealth goal

Late in the first period, with New Jersey on the powerplay, Ilya Kovalchuk shot the puck hard towards the net. It deflected a few times and beat Carolina goaltender Cam Ward.

The only problem was, it happened too fast. The goal judge didn't turn on the light, and the officials on the ice waved it off. The puck had come right back out into traffic, and New Jersey was still on the powerplay, so the players kept playing. They would have to wait for a stoppage for the goal to be reviewed.

They would have to wait for while, as it turned out.

The arena fell silent, and play became weird and half-hearted as the players kept going in this uncanny, Twilight Zone ghost time. The Devils had several more quality scoring chances during the three minutes it took for the next stoppage to occur. If they had scored or if a player had taken a penalty during this time-that-wasn't, all of it would have been erased once the goal was finally reviewed and declared official, and three minutes were added back on to the game clock.

That was one powerful shot, Kovy.