NHL playoff scores 2016: Offside coaches challenge a broken rule after controversial weekend

No one could have predicted that the headlines coming out of the first weekend of Stanley Cup playoff hockey would be about one of the NHL's newest rules instead of the on-ice action.

We've got so many good narrative threads to follow as playoff series start to enter their middle stages. The Blues have a leg up again on the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Detroit proved at home that they won't go quietly to the Lightning. A Pacific Division battle for the ages has San Jose leading the Kings 2-0.

Yet, all most will talk about are the three coaches offside challenges that played a factor in every game they occurred in. Friday saw it wipe out a Blues goal. Saturday, the Rangers benefited from inconclusive evidence. Sunday, it was the Panthers that had a goal taken away and turn momentum in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders.

We've already said our piece on the rule itself, but it's becoming more and more clear that tweaks to it will be made by the NHL in the offseason. It's not so much about the offside coaches challenge itself anymore, but what it does to the game. The 10 minutes it has taken for the officials to first review the play, then for the coach to challenge and it go to a second review have not gone over well with many. The minuscule distances by which many of these reviewed offsides are imperceptible to human eye and human error until we slow them down to frame-by-frame breakdowns.

The offside review was introduced to eliminate the egregious play. I suspect there will be changes in the offseason, but not in playoffs.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 18, 2016

In short, the offside challenges have been causing more problems than they've been fixing. And it's been to the detriment of some superb playoff hockey that should have been the story this weekend.

The changes shouldn't be massive, nor should they end the coaches challenge rule altogether. However after this weekend, it's easy to see that the offside challenge aspect is broken -- and will be here to stay for at least a few more months of playoff hockey.

Blues 3, Blackhawks 2
Red Wings 2, Lightning 0
Islanders 4, Panthers 3 (OT)
Predators 3, Ducks 2

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1. Blues turned the tables with special teams

St. Louis looked to be in trouble after taking three penalties in the opening five minutes of Game 3 against the Blackhawks. Instead, they allowed just one goal and skated away unscathed enough to pounce when the pendulum would swing back their way. In their 3-2 victory, the Blues scored twice on three power play opportunities, including netting the game winner on Patrick Kane's double minor for high sticking that gave the Blackhawks forward a case of the sads.

2. Red Wings and Lightning ended in typical fashion, with a scrap

Detroit played a solid all-around game in a 2-0 shutout victory to cut Tampa Bay's series lead to 2-1. Like the rest of the series, the game featured hits and high tension, which ended with Brian Boyle calling out Justin Abdelkader for avoiding a fight at the end of the game in the best way.

Brian Boyle wasn’t thrilled Justin Abdelkader wouldn’t fight him pic.twitter.com/Xh3VejWXL3

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 18, 2016

3. Ducks in trouble in Anaheim

Pekka Rinne has been pretty bad all things considered in goal this season, but the Ducks have put up just four goals on him in this series. Though they had a terrible start to the year, Anaheim finished the season on such a high note that head coach Bruce Boudreau is being considered for the Jack Adams Award. Dropping both home games before heading east to play their next pair in a visiting barn is not a good look for the Pacific Division's No. 1 team.

It can't be anything other than the successful coaches challenge by Jack Capuano. Overtime goal scorer Thomas Hickey called it the game's "turning point."

Not that this game is over but we could have all of LA, Chicago, and Anaheim (!!) two games from elimination by nightfall.

— Travis Yost (@travisyost) April 18, 2016