The Everything NHL Thread

So the two most notorious front-running teams are down 2-0 and heading into their opponents' buildings...probably a good thing for the NHL but I'd be nervous if I was rooting for PIT or VAN right now!

Just like last year the Bruins Power Play was completely non-existent. The Caps can keep it close if they keep everyone back on defense like they did in game 1 but I don't think they will even be able to win one game unless they open up their offense like they did at the end. Close isn't good enough in the playoffs because you don't get points, and you can't win a game 0-0. Washington wasn't playing to win, they were playing not to lose and they got burned.

I was just surprised that a game between the #2 goal-scoring team in the league and a team with that Ovy-Semin-Backstrom line went 0-0
 
So happy for the Kings. I wasn't expecting them to take more than one of the first two games, so this is really nice. Props to Brown for the hat trick.
 
shades of 2005/2006 here. Canucks, Blues, and Penguins all find themselves in a hole. Bruins look like they need to watch their back at all times too.
 
jrrrrrrr said:
I was just surprised that a game between the #2 goal-scoring team in the league and a team with that Ovy-Semin-Backstrom line went 0-0
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I didn't catch much of game one but didn't Hunter have them split on two lines? Ovechkin/Laich/Brouwer and Chimera/Backstrom/Semin?

Anyway, I wouldn't expect the Caps to be generating a ton of offense.. they seem to be content in jamming a square peg into a round hole by playing a grinding defensive game.
 
what the fuck is going on with Pittsburgh i've been missing the games and all i'm seeing is six and seven point comebacks from the flyers?? am i missing something or is our d just choking big time???????
 
Seriously. The fact they let the Bruins get away with this crap. There is a difference between playing physical and checking people in the back any chance you get away from the puck and sticking your fingers in people's faces during every stoppage in play. Also, can they stop them from using their free hands to grab sweaters all day? And can they call people for hooking, holding, tripping Ovie?

Edit: Thomas punches a Cap in the face while Krejci grabs him in a headlock from behind and tackles him to the ice and proceeds to pin him down by the head/neck for a solid minute. No call. What the fuck is this shit?

An analyst said they need to stop officiating the scoreboard and start officiating the play. And he's right. They don't want to make a call so late in a tie game to give the Caps the win but fuck that. If the Bruins are going to do stupid shit late in a tie game they have to take their loss like men.

Edit: @sdoner: I know! At the beginning of the season some of the local reporters were talking about how deep we were at goalie from adding Vokoun because we had guys in Hershey who could play in the NHL. Who could have known that guy would play 9 periods of playoff hockey against the #2 offense and only let in two goals. What's more the goal he gave up today is the type that would shatter most guys confidence and this 22yo kid played the rest of the game like he was sitting on a goose egg.
 
Wow Mike Smith lost all my respect in this game. Checking Toews and then falling down to draw a penalty, then blatantly embellishing the contact behind the net to draw another one. "Oh my god I got a concussion!! Oh they called the penalty? Ok I'm fine now!". This is what I would expect out of a soccer goalie, not out of a hockey player.

Two huge bitch moves by their goalie might win this game for PHX. Neither of those plays should have been a penalty but they got 2 goals out of them.

Wikey said:
Seriously. The fact they let the Bruins get away with this crap. There is a difference between playing physical and checking people in the back any chance you get away from the puck and sticking your fingers in people's faces during every stoppage in play.
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The NHL has very specific rules about what is and isn't a penalty, there really aren't any judgment calls made by the in-game officials. It's not like football where you can just get a 5-yard deduction or soccer where you just get a free kick. A power play is a huge game-changing advantage so to get one it has to be a huge event. The Bruins are obviously coached in this considering their whole strategy is to take the body first then the puck.

And I don't know how you can say the Bruins get away with stuff, they're the 3rd most penalized team in terms of minutes, #1 in majors and #1 in most game misconducts. The refs have definitely taken a keen eye on the black jerseys.

Wikey said:
If the Bruins are going to do stupid shit late in a tie game they have to take their loss like men.
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The Bruins' manly physical play has cost them a couple of games already this season. Most notably in games against the Rangers and Canucks. That's not a reason to take the pressure off of the other team, especially when they have multiple players capable of scoring off of any turnover (like they did in 2OT today). This is going to be a really exciting series if Holtby can keep up this ridiculous streak.
 
[youtube]8R2H-O0Cwrk[/youtube]

Are you actually saying this was embellished. Smith didn't even see Shaw coming and then a head to head collision while Smith's head was down is considered selling it?
 
jrrrrrr, I know there aren't judgement calls. The Bruins were doing things that were against the rules and not getting penalized for it. Hamrlik was called for crosschecking two seconds after he was crosschecked in the back twice! The officiating in both games in this series has been terrible. Watching everything again now that I'm not caught up in the moment I can see that there have been plays where the Caps were commiting blatant penalties and not getting called for it as well. (Ovechkin crosschecked Marchand (maybe?) in the throat) And I understand that in the playoffs (esp. ot) the refs are supposed to swallow their whistles and I like that about the NHL. What I don't like is allowing players to get away with flagrant penalties all game and then randomly give a guy a minor for a love tap when he was retaliating for a more flagrant penalty against him that wasn't called. Seriously, that penalty on Hamrlik was ridiculous when you consider what other calls weren't made. Ovie crosschecked someone to the throat. Someone (Chara? Seidenberg?) punched Ovie square in the face during play. And I seriously can't believe that exchange where Thomas punched a guy in the face and then Krejci took that same guy to the ice headfirst by the neck. And then held him there. You can't let guys get away with murder and then give guys penalties for insignificant stuff.

It's also bull that it's this bad and inconsistent because it HEAVILY favors the Bruins because of their style of play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvSTWZPKvFY&feature=player_embedded#! -Thomas's cheap shot
 
WOW CHICAGO TIES IT WITH 5 SECONDS LEFT. Coyotes getting killed by karma.

Eraddd said:
Are you actually saying this was embellished.
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That was pretty clearly embellished. Shaw points it out right away, in complete disbelief that the ref blew the whistle. Smith does a full 360, throws his arms in the air about a second after the contact, then pushes with his legs off the boards to spin around on the ice like he got hit hard. That is not how people fall after a head-to-head collision. How convenient was it that Smith's injury cleared up about 2 seconds after Shaw got ejected? He's still in the game and not playing like someone in pain. Even the announcer questions it. I can't really sympathize with a goalie embellishing a hit when he was the one checking Blackhawks earlier in the game. If he wants to be a physical presence then he deserves what he gets

Wikey said:
It's also bull that it's this bad and inconsistent because it HEAVILY favors the Bruins because of their style of play.
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That's what the phrase "built for the playoffs" means. The Bruins are a team built for physical 7-game series. This year's Rangers and Flyers are also examples of this. Any playoff series favors a team with that style of play, but now for the Bruins it all depends on getting past a hot goalie.

Although I definitely agree that the calls are inconsistent so far this series, not in terms of team bias but in terms of timing/severity of infraction

re: Thomas, Backstrom was chipping at Thomas with his stick directly in front of the net after the whistle blew. Punches for "get out of my face" purposes are standard fare.
 
Also, looked up the rules on goalies punching with their blocker. He should have been thrown out of the game for that. Boston has been pretty consistently going after the head on Green and Backstrom. Green was elbowed in the face for no reason in the first minute of the first game. Now you've got Thomas going after Backstrom's head.
 
I think you're confusing post-whistle fights with during-play hits. Punching someone in the face is not the same as "going after someone's head". There haven't been any dirty plays in this series so far other than the two filthy game-winning shots.
 
The elbow to Green's head was during play. The punch to Backstrom's face wasn't really part of a fight. It was right as the whistle was blown and was a cheap shot to an unsuspecting player. Also, what the hell was Krejci's move considered? Here's the rule on blocker punches:

Rule 51 - Roughing 51.1 Roughing – Roughing is a punching motion with the hand or fist, with or without the glove on the hand, normally directed at the head or face of an opponent.
Roughing is a minor altercation that is not worthy of a major penalty to either participant. (An altercation is a situation involving two players, with at least one to be penalized).
51.2 Minor Penalty - A minor penalty shall be imposed on a player who strikes an opponent with his hand or fist.
51.3 Match Penalty - If, in the judgment of the Referee, a goalkeeper uses his blocking glove to punch an opponent in the head or face in an attempt to or to deliberately injure an opponent, a match penalty must be assessed.
 
jrrrrrrr said:
That was pretty clearly embellished. Shaw points it out right away, in complete disbelief that the ref blew the whistle. Smith does a full 360, throws his arms in the air about a second after the contact, then pushes with his legs off the boards to spin around on the ice like he got hit hard. That is not how people fall after a head-to-head collision. How convenient was it that Smith's injury cleared up about 2 seconds after Shaw got ejected? He's still in the game and not playing like someone in pain. Even the announcer questions it. I can't really sympathize with a goalie embellishing a hit when he was the one checking Blackhawks earlier in the game. If he wants to be a physical presence then he deserves what he gets.
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Shaw was in disbelief because Shaw made contact with his helmet, and not his elbow or arm; Smith's head was down and wasn't expecting a hit and Shaw came down with considerable velocity. Smith obviously embellishes a bit, but it's absurd to say that a head-to-head contact didn't shake Smith up.

As for Thomas punching Backstrom in the head, Holtby did the exact same thing, and was penalized for it. Then again, Smith did the exact same thing to Toews and Toews was penalized for it... The refereeing has honestly been a joke these past few games.

Also, I love playoff overtime games <3.
 
The blocker match-penalty rule doesn't apply. There clearly was no intent to injure. Root for your team to win, not for the other team to lose by being a stickler about the rules.

ala said:
I guess the Bruins got killed by karma today as well?
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Yeah they did, but not nearly in the same way. The Coyotes got two undeserved goals so they deserved to go into OT. The Bruins lost to a very savable shot off a cheap turnover after winning that way the game before. Different league of karma I'd say

Eraddd said:
Smith obviously embellishes a bit
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Any embellishment is too much embellishment. The fact that Smith embellished at all makes it impossible for me to believe that he was in danger of injury for even a split second. It's a dishonest act that gets no sympathy from me.

Eraddd said:
The refereeing has honestly been a joke these past few games.

Also, I love playoff overtime games <3.
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Now these are two things we can all agree on!
 
I'm not rooting for the other team to lose. I'm hoping that my team doesn't lose because the refs fail to protect our players.
 
I've stayed out of this thread the whole season, but wtf was that between the Blues and the Sharks. I know playoff hockey is meant to have a rep for being physical but dirty play still makes me cringe - both ways. This is coming from a Sharks fan too.
 
People forget that Holtby got some games in last year with the Caps when Neuvirth and/or Varly had injuries. Small sample size but he went 10-2-2 with a sub 2 GAA, stellar SV% and 2 SOs. Granted, I'm not saying we should have seen this coming (I even doubted him in my predictions) because he has been so clutch for an otherwise underwhelming Capitals squad but the track record is there. Synre especially has raved about Holtby as being the best of what was the 3 Washington goalie prospects and he's highly touted in fantasy hockey circles as the real future for the Caps in net. Holtby has definitely surprised and exceeded expectations thus far but partially because his opportunity to shine came up sooner than expected.
 
gsninja said:
Penguins score the first goal again lol. Let's see how it turns out this time.
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As you see it doesn't matter. It's pretty sad sitting here as a pens fan, the pens score, and I make no reaction to it at all, because I know it means nothing. And that's why, another shorthanded goal, a soft one given up by Fleury.
 
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