Pekka Rinne loses puck in gear, causing hilarious delay in OT (Video)

In overtime of Game 4 between the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, Hawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson shot the puck around the boards and goalie Pekka Rinne cut it off behind his goal cage.

Innocent enough, right? Well, the next moment was one of sheer panic for all the players on the ice: The puck disappeared. Rinne dramatically dropped to his knees trying to save an invisible puck.

The referee blew his whistle to stop play, and the comedy began – for the next three minutes, Rinne removed gear, shimmied around, put his hands in his pants and searched for the disc.

He then finally dug the puck out from inside his right leg pad, where it hopped into as it went around the boards, tossing it out to center ice.

Hey, if nothing else, this unanticipated delay gave all the dead-tired players a breather with 5:34 left in overtime.

This is actually the second time this has happened to a goalie this season, as Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby “hatched” the puck in a game back in January.

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