You have to see it: ESPN cuts to commercial during a penalty shot
It's the most exciting play in hockey. The crowd roars, the shooter stares down the goaltender and the players on both benched hold their breath. A penalty shot. It only happens a few times per season, and apparently, it's the perfect time to cut to a commercial break.
Thursday night's game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars was tied 3-3 with just under 6 minutes to go when Stars forward Michael Raffl stole the puck from Canes defender Tony DeAngelo and took off on a breakaway. DeAngelo managed to catch up to Raffl and hooked him from behind. The ref's arm shot up, and the whistle blew. The referee pointed at center ice, signifying that Raffl would be awarded a penalty shot.
Raffl took his position at center ice just in time for ESPN to cut to commercial. fans watching from home had to wait for the commercial break to end to see Hurricane's goaltender Frederik Andersen make a beautiful glove save on the shot.
It's incredible that a network paying a BILLION dollars for the NHL's TV rights and broadcasting nationally would simply cut to commercial in the middle of a penalty shot. Fans were left speechless, then angry as they realized ESPN hadn't made a mistake, they were really cutting to commercial. Maybe it's a case of the person directing the broadcast not knowing what was coming next, maybe they heard the whistle and expected the penalty shot to be taken after the commercial break. Maybe an intern pushed the wrong button. it's not likely we'll ever hear the full story.
The Stars would have the last laugh, however, winning the game in a shootout, marking Scott Wedgewood's first win with the club and breaking a Stars record for most saves in a debut game. Not too shabby!
https://mobile.twitter.com/DallasStarsDDH/status/1507167369323446276?t=9wH_VMkG4PQuLMKyb70f3g&s=19
