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Blackhawks still not happy about how shootout ended

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- For the second time in two seasons, the Blackhawks have a beef with the NHL over a spin-o-rama goal scored against them in a shootout.

The Hawks didn't believe Ryan Shannon's goal should have counted Sunday night at GM Place because he came in contact with goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin while completing his spin move.

It was the only goal in the shootout and handed the Hawks a tough 3-2 defeat.

Hawks coach Denis Savard and general manager Dale Tallon felt Shannon also lost possession of the puck before backhanding it into the net, which should have ended the attempt.

"The puck didn't move," Tallon said. "It stopped."

But it was the bump into Khabibulin that enraged Tallon, who was screaming from the press box at referees Paul Devorski and Wes McCauley. Immediately after the game, Tallon called the NHL office in Toronto from his cell phone.

"It's the referee's call, that's what they told me," Tallon said Monday. "And it can't be reviewed."

Devorski and McCauley conferred only briefly after Shannon's goal and appeared confused.

"To me that's interference," Savard said. "The goalie shouldn't be able to get bumped. What's the difference if the guy just goes straight ahead with the puck and just runs the goalie right out?

"That's what you're going to see if they don't fix it. They need to fix it. It's the second time it's happened to us. It's a tough call, I understand, but we've got to figure it out."

The Hawks and Khabibulin lost in a shootout at Minnesota last season when Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored on a similar spin move, nudging the goalie.

That play prompted the NHL to issue a memo saying players couldn't stop their forward motion during a shootout attempt.

"If there's no rule, I guess he can do that," said a frustrated Khabibulin, who responded to Shannon's goal by cross-checking the Canucks' forward in the back.

"Show me one goaltender who would be happy if he's in the blue (crease) and gets bumped," Khabibulin said. "If he's going to be in the blue, I feel I have to do something. He's going to pay a price."

Shannon turned after scoring and raised his arms in celebration right in Khabibulin's face.

"It was not my intention to embarrass him," Shannon said.

Even before the shootout, Tallon was incensed when Devorski and McCauley awarded the Canucks a penalty shot in overtime after Hawks defenseman Brent Sopel dislodged the net as he slid through the crease during a scramble.

The referees ruled Sopel did it deliberately. Daniel Sedin failed on the penalty shot.

"He fell; it's a fast game," Savard said of Sopel. "It was hard for him to get up in time. I understand if you knock the net off on purpose it should be a penalty."

The chaos in the overtime and shootout overshadowed the fact that the Hawks let a 2-1 lead get away when the Canucks' Markus Naslund tied it with 1:18 to play with goalie Roberto Luongo pulled for a sixth attacker.

"It was an odd night all around," said Hawks defenseman Cam Barker, who scored the Hawks' second goal when his shot was deflected high into the air and dropped into the net behind Luongo.

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