Question for the rules junkies:

Last night in Ottawa there was a screwup by the refs and penalty box crew to
start the 3rd. Richardson and the Atlanta guy fought with less than a minute
left in the second, got 5 minutes each, and then everyone forgot about it when
the 3rd started. They went out and took a regular shift. At about the 4 and a
half minute mark the ref stops the game, skates to each bench and says um hi
could we have Mr. Richardson and his buddy in the box, sorry we forgot they
shouldn't be playing. Then 15 seconds later their 5 minutes is up and at the
whistle they skate to the bench. I was wondering what the heck was going on, and
nothing was announced or reported, but that must have been it. Richardson has
just played the shift before the whistle.

I wonder what would have happened if Richardson or the Atlanta guy had scored.
Would it have counted?

Dave in Whitby

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