Ahmad Austin Jr.May 6th, 2026, 10:32 am

The end of a minor league hockey game turned chaotic when fans threw trash on the ice in protest of one of the weirdest goals they’d ever seen.

On Tuesday night, the Hershey Bears and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins faced off in Game 3 of their playoff series in the American Hockey League. The teams remained tied at 3-3 at the end of regulation, and Penguins winger Rutger McGroarty scored the game-winner roughly five minutes into the overtime period.

When Bears fans looked up at the big screen for the replay, however, they were convinced the referees got it wrong. As noted in a tweet from a Bears fan account on X/Twitter, multiple angles make it look like the puck never actually went into the net.

An overhead angle confirmed that it was a goal. The puck simply bounced off the center support bar so quickly that it appeared as though it never went in.

Bears fans apparently weren’t shown that angle right away and were under the impression that their team had just been screwed over in a crucial playoff game.

In videos posted online, fans could be heard chanting, “Ref, you suck,” and throwing trash onto the ice. Although the ice had been emptied out, hundreds of fans refused to leave their seats to voice their displeasure.

With the win, the Penguins took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series, just one win away from advancing to the next round.

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