MANALAPAN, Fla. — Coaches are challenging goals one way or the other for goaltender interference at the highest rate in six seasons, playoff races across the NHL are tight and the chase for the Stanley Cup is a month away.

Because of all that, video review - and particularly coach's challenges for goalie interference - took center stage Monday to kick off the general managers' annual spring meeting.

GMs were shown roughly 70 clips of goals challenged this season for interference, offside or a missed stoppage, such as the puck hitting the protective netting, a hand pass or a high stick. The aim was to explain what the league standards are for goaltender interference and to educate all 32 organizations on how the process works.

“These aren’t black and white,” vice president of hockey operations Kris King said. “There’s a lot of judgment that goes into these. ... They’re never the same. They’re snowflakes. There’s a lot of different things that go into it.”

Through the first 1,048 games this season, coaches challenged either a goal or no-goal call for goalie interference 105 times - the most since 2019-20 when getting it wrong first became a two-minute penalty - and 60 of them were successfully overturned, which is also the highest percentage under the current system.

“Games are tough,” King said. “It’s tough to score. Guys know the importance of winning games, and they’re going to the net hard.”

All video reviews are determined by the NHL's situation room in Toronto, in consultation with on-ice officials. The decisions are made based on deliberate versus incidental contact, whether it's in or out of the crease, whether the goalie can do his job and has a chance to reset and if there was anything done by the offensive or defensive player to cause the disruption.

“It’s hard," said Bill Zito, GM of the reigning champion Florida Panthers. "You gain an appreciation for how hard and what a good job the refs do and the situation room. It’s unbelievable not only how good they are but how hard it is.”

Goaltender interference challenges have been in place since 2015-16, initially at the expense of a timeout like in the NFL, and director of officiating Stephen Walkom believes the standard has been set for what it means.

“We’re not far off," Walkom said. “Maybe originally when we started, there was some differences of opinion, but there really isn’t now.”

Senior executive VP of hockey operations Colin Campbell, who along with King and other league officials like Kay Whitmore and Rod Pasma are in charge of situation room rulings, thinks there have been some unwise challenges this season, which goes against the intent of the rule. The NHL is set for another high-scoring season, there are more close games than at any point in the history of the league and the last thing anyone wants is too many unnecessary disruptions to the flow of games.

“You’re going to have some judgment calls, and that’s the nature particularly of goaltender interference,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “When anybody says, ‘I thought I’d give it a shot,’ or ‘I think it’s 50/50,’ that’s not the standard. The standard is was it really a glaring mistake so that the judgment of the officials on the ice should be overturned.”

What happens far more often is successful challenges for offside: 69 of 77 because coaching staffs typically don't ask to review those plays unless they've seen conclusive video evidence that shows they are correct.

The schedule, which will be affected next season by the break for the 2026 Milan Olympics, is among the topics on the agenda for meetings Tuesday and Wednesday. One thing that is not a formal point of discussion is extending 3-on-3 overtime beyond 5 minutes, something that would need to be brought to the Players' Association.

But with a month left to go in the regular season before the playoffs begin and races for the final few spots expected to go down to the wire, all aspects of video review are under the microscope.

“We have to make tough rulings and we use our experience,” Campbell said. “It’s not that they’re all going to be accepted, obviously, because there’s passion behind these decisions to make these challenges. We know we run into that and just, with our experience, we hope we’re making the right call.”

DENVER — Mikko Rantanen tapped his heart as the video screen showed highlights in the first period of his Colorado Avalanche career, culminating with him hoisting the Stanley Cup.

The crowd greeted him Sunday with a mixture of cheers of “Moose” — his nickname — and, of course, some boos.

Once a fan favorite, Rantanen is now a fierce rival following his arrival with Central Division-foe Dallas. And for the first time in his NHL career, Rantanen was a visitor in a building he’s called home for a decade.

No surprise, he heard the most boos when his name was announced on an assist to set up the first goal of the game for the Stars.

“It’s always emotional,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said before the game of Rantanen’s return. “The good news is you only have to do it once, and then it’s in the rearview mirror. We’ll get through that today and then move forward.”

It’s been a whirlwind of emotions for Rantanen since he was traded to Carolina on Jan. 24. That particular move caught him off guard and broke up the electric pairing with Nathan MacKinnon. Rantanen, the 10th overall selection by Colorado in 2015, was set to be a free agent this summer and figured the sides were simply negotiating.

“At the end of the day, I always wanted to stay in Colorado,” Rantanen said Saturday. “That was the plan, and that’s what I told the front office, too. I told them face-to-face that I was going to be flexible, but I understand. Better players than me have been traded in the history of NHL. So it happens. It’s part of the business.”

Rantanen was a popular figure in the locker room and helped the Avalanche to the 2022 Stanley Cup title. His name remains all over the franchise’s career leaders list, including the sixth-highest goal scorer with 287.

As part of a three-team trade that landed Rantanen in Carolina, the Avalanche received forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury.

“I went there with an open mind to play there long term,” Rantanen said. “I tried my best.”

He played in 13 games with the Hurricanes and had two goals and four assists.

On March 7, Carolina sent Rantanen to the Stars for forward Logan Stankoven and draft picks. Rantanen signed an eight-year, $96 million contract.

“I’m very happy to be here now,” said Rantanen, who played in his fourth game with the Stars on Sunday. “It’s a good team, and they’ve been good, successful the last couple years. They have a good, young core, great coach, so it’s good.”

He wasn’t sure how his reception with the Avalanche fans would go.

“Like I said many times, never wanted to leave. It wasn’t like I asked to leave,” Rantanen said. “I have good memories here.”

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Alex Ovechkin shook off a rough start to this three-game California swing by scoring his 887th career goal Saturday against the San Jose Sharks to move within eight of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.

Ovechkin had failed to score a goal in the first two games of the trip and had no shots on goal in a loss at Los Angeles on Thursday night. He came up empty on his first three shots and couldn’t generate any prime chances on three power plays before scoring late against the Sharks in a 5-1 victory.

“Hopefully that helps him,” coach Spencer Carbery said. “You could feel he was gripping it a little bit. Power play, he’s been struggling. He hasn’t been getting as many quality looks with his line. ... For him to get that goal, hopefully that’s a good boost for him and grabs him some momentum heading back home and feeling good about his game going into our home games this week.”

Ovechkin deflected a shot from Martin Fehervary past Georgi Romanov with 9:06 remaining in the third period.

The goal led to loud cheers from the sellout crowd that featured many fans who came hoping to see Ovechkin score with chants of “Ovie! Ovie!” filling the building.

“It’s great,” Ovechkin said. “Lots of people are now watching and lots of attention. It’s a great feeling.”

Romanov is the NHL-record 182nd goalie that Ovechkin has scored on out of the 217 goaltenders he has faced in his 20-year career.

The goal made sure Ovechkin didn’t match his longest goal drought of the season, having also gone without one in the first three games and then again in early January.

He scored 14 goals in the next 22 games following that stretch to move closer to Gretzky’s mark of 894 that long seemed unapproachable before the end of this season.

He now has 15 games remaining to break the record this season, starting with a three-game homestand next week.

Ovechkin did have three assists in the opener of the trip at Anaheim and assisted on Dylan Strome’s goal to open the scoring in the win over the Sharks.

“He’s been passing to me too much,” Strome joked. “We got to get him the puck more. He’s doing all the little things right. Nice for (Fehervary) to find him in the slot there. You could just see the crowd. Not much left to say at this point. Hopefully he can get a couple on this homestand here and inch closer and closer. We’re all excited obviously. It’s pretty cool.”

Ovechkin’s goal came a few minutes after Trevor van Riemsdyk had given Washington a 4-1 lead when he scored to end a 145-game goal drought dating more than two years to March 9, 2023.

“I definitely understand how hard it is to score. To see O keep doing this every night it seems like, he’s right there,” van Riemsdyk said.

“It’s pretty cool. I think everyone understands how amazing this truly is. The quality of these goaltenders nowadays, how hard it is to score in this league. Every year people start doubting him, ‘Is this the year he’ll fall off?’ They’re going to have to keep waiting.”

The 39-year-old Russian star has 34 goals on the season, giving him at least 30 in a record 19 of his 20 seasons. He only fell short in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season when he scored 24 goals in a 56-game season.

LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights have signed goaltender Adin Hill to a six-year contract extension worth $37.5 million, rewarding him for backstopping them to the Stanley Cup in 2023 and excelling in the starting job since.

Hill will count $6.25 million against the salary cap from when the deal kicks in next NHL season through 2031. General manager Kelly McCrimmon announced the extension.

This season at age 28, Hill has played in a career high 53 games and has a 2.53 goals-against average and .906 save percentage to help Vegas vault to the top of the Pacific Division. That included a 27-save shutout at Columbus.

Hill was a journeyman on his third organization with no playoff experience when he was thrust in net during the second round two years ago after injuries to Logan Thompson and Laurent Brossoit. He went 11-4 with a 2.17 GAA and a league-best .932 save percentage to deliver the first championship in franchise history.