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In last night's St. Louis vs. San Jose Western Conference Final game, there was a play in which Blues goaltender Brian Elliott misplayed a puck shot on the net from behind the blue line. The puck slowly dribbled through the goalie, sat in the crease untouched and was eventually knocked accidentally into the Blues' net by the goaltender.

However, the whistle blew play dead before the latter actions happened. The referee lost sight of the puck as Elliott went to make the save and before the puck came loose. What would have happened if the puck had gone into the net simultaneous or a fraction of a second before the whistle-- either by the goalie or a defender's accidental actions or by a Sharks player tapping the puck over the line?

In that that the "Intent to blow the whistle" rule would have applied.

In the current NHL Rule Book, Rule 31.2 lays out in very specific terms that what matters is not when the whistle blows, but when the referee decides to blow play dead. The reasons can include losing sight of the puck or the referee deciding that a goaltender has demonstrated clear control of the puck and a stoppage of play is merited.

Rule 31.2 Disputes

The Referees shall have general supervision of the game and shall have full control of all game officials and players during the game, including stoppages; and in case of any dispute, their decision shall be final.

As there is a human factor involved in blowing the whistle to stop play, the Referee may deem the play to be stopped slightly prior to the whistle actually being blown. The fact that the puck may come loose or cross the goal line prior to the sound of the whistle has no bearing if the Referee has ruled that the play had been stopped prior to this happening.

A couple of years ago, the NHL made a clarification -- and a good one, in my opinion -- of situations in which the puck is already over the goal line when the referee loses sight of it and intends to blow the whistle. In that event, it's a good goal because the puck crossing the line preceded the intent to blow the whistle.

The genesis of the original "intent rule" stems from several situations -- such as the famous play in the 1995 first-round playoff series between the New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques in which Andy Van Hellemond stopped play with Alexei Kovalev embellishing to look for a Quebec penalty and the Nordiques losing a would be goal. Another cause of its creation was something that happened in my own active officiating career. I went to blow the whistle one night and discovered I was only holding onto a mouthpiece -- the whistle had somehow broken.

As I tried in vain to physically announce a stoppage in play, shouting and waving my arms, a puck squirted free near the net and was stashed in. A dispute ensued. I had ruled play dead but had no way to blow the whistle to get play to stop in time. As a result, the wording of the rulebook was changed to emphasize the referee's decision-making rather than the blowing of the whistle itself.

A more common disputed stoppage situation is something that happened when I refereed my first NHL game (March 27, 1986, Montreal at Boston).

Late in the second period with the Bruins leading 3-2, Boston forward Steve Kasper put a shot on net. Montreal rookie goaltender Patrick Roy made the save.

The puck momentarily disappeared under Roy. Just as I went to blow the whistle to call for a stoppage of play and an offensive zone faceoff for Boston, the puck squirted free and Geoff Courtnall poked it in the net. The goal light went on, the sellout crowd and Bruins began to celebrate.

Now I had to be the bearer of bad news to the Bruins: the goal didn't count. You can imagine how it went over.

In retrospect, I missed that call. I was too hasty with the whistle, and felt awful about it. Thirty years later, I still wish the more experienced version of myself had been at the net instead of the rookie ref who was too quick.

When referees miss loose puck calls around the net and blow the whistle too fast, the most common reason for the mistake is that the referee was not in good enough position to see the puck.My mantra has always been this: The money is at the net, so get to the net no matter what, for the best possible look at the play.

In that case, I was in position. I was just too quick to blow the whistle rather than make sure the puck was, indeed, covered.

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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.

Today, Stewart is an officiating and league discipline consultant for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and serves as director of hockey officiating for the ECAC.

The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials. Stewart also maintains a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.

In addition to his blogs for HockeyBuzz every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Stewart writes a column every Wednesday for the Huffington Post.