Staples clock problem may not have been the first

While the NHL investigates the addition of one second to the third period of the Kings’ game against Columbus on Wednesday, footage has surfaced of another apparent pause by the clock at Staples Center during a game last month.

A video clip posted on the website thescore.com Friday appeared to show the clock stop twice in the final seconds of the Kings’ game against Colorado on Jan. 21, once with 3.9 seconds left and again with 2.1 seconds remaining. It went unnoticed because nothing extraordinary occurred that required video review.

A pause prolonged the Kings’ game against the Blue Jackets on Wednesday, long enough for defenseman Drew Doughty to score with 0.4 of a second left and give the Kings a 3-2 victory. The goal was ruled to have been legal and the addition of the extra time wasn’t discovered until later.

Colin Campbell, the NHL’s senior vice president of hockey operations, told The Times on Thursday that Columbus was wronged. He said the league would examine the Daktronics clock and would meet with the off-ice officials who staffed the game. Off-ice officials, including the timekeeper who starts and stops the clock, are employed by the league.

NHL spokesman Gary Meagher said Friday he had been unaware of the Jan. 21 stoppage and that he would forward the information to the league officials reviewing Wednesday’s events.

Lee Zeidman, senior vice president and general manager of Staples Center, said the clock’s performance is closely monitored.

“We have complete faith in our state-of-the-art Daktronics timing system, which is regularly inspected,” Zeidman said.