ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Only minutes had passed since the Minnesota Wild lost their first home game of the season and fans filed out of the Xcel Energy Center upset after an apparent power-play goal by Mikko Koivu was waved off.
Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo approached the podium, much calmer than earlier, and refused to get into the controversy that unfolded earlier. Officials decided Koivu's goal, which could be seen on replays, would be nullified because of goaltender interference.
Instead of Minnesota facing a one-goal deficit with three minutes left, the Wild eventually lost, 4-1, to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"I'm not going to comment on that," Yeo said of the play. "It is what it is."
Center Mikael Granlund was on top of a sprawled-out Thomas Greiss, the Pittsburgh goaltender who made 33 saves in the win. Koivu collected a loose puck and had the second of two shots cross the goal line before Penguins forward Marcel Goc batted the puck out of the net.
An official behind the net waved the play dead immediately and didn't count the goal. The NHL Situation Room in Toronto started a review of the play. Replays on the team's new video board showed the puck cross the line and the Wild crowd erupted.
But the league declared there was no goal and the play was not reviewable.
"The Situation Room initiated a video review because the puck crossed the Pittsburgh goal line," the league announced. "The referee informed the Situation Room that Wild forward Mikael Granlund made incidental contact in the crease with Penguins goaltender Thomas Greiss before the puck entered the net. This is not a reviewable play therefore the referee's call on the ice stands - no penalty and no goal Minnesota."
Instead of clawing its way back into the game, Minnesota suffered its first home loss of the season in six games and had a three-game winning streak snapped.
"It's frustrating when you think you have a chance there," forward Jason Pominville said. "You look up and you see the puck go in the net and obviously you think you're right back in the game. It ends up being called the other way around, so I think it was tough for everyone."
Ryan Suter added: "They told me he was laying on top of him. I didn't get to watch it. It's too bad. It would've been interesting if we'd have got that one."
Yeo knew a poor start was the reason for a frustrating finish.
Minnesota trailed 3-0 before Nino Niederreiter scored his fourth goal of the season, short-handed. But the Wild, the league's best defensive team, suffered a loss to streaking Pittsburgh, which is the league's top-scoring team.
"I think we took for granted just being at home," Suter said. "We've had a lot of success here. We just came out flat and we thought that we just had to show up to get the win. That's obviously not what happened."
Yeo didn't disagree with Suter, and had a few ideas of his own.
"My two thoughts are that we played a lot of games in a lot of days and then off for two days we really decompressed and we didn't amp it back up," Yeo said. "The other one could be the fact that we've been listening to everyone tell us how good we are at home, and maybe we just thought it was going to happen for us. Whatever the case, I think we know that's not good enough and now we turn our sights toward the next one."
Another concern is the fact that Wild forward Zach Parise, who leads the team with 10 points, missed the entire third period with an upper-body injury.
Yeo didn't have an update after the game and responded "sure hope not" when asked if the injury is serious. Yeo said he'd have an update on Parise's status on Wednesday.
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