Blown Call Leads to Goal, Debris
Evgeni Malkin certainly earned the power play in overtime. He skated with speed through the neutral zone and caused the slower Milan Jurcina to take a tripping penalty. However on that Power Play, the Capitals were about 10 seconds away from killing it when a blatant interference penalty in front of the Penguins net was not called. Philippe Boucher leveled Boyd Gordon in front of the goal as a shot went wide around the boards. Within seconds, Evgeni Malkin was streaking down the wing again, beating Sergei Fedorov and throwing a pass across the ice which was deflected into the net by a diving Tom Poti.
A fairly telling commentary on this hit is Mike Emerick saying, “The fans are upset about something, as I was watching the puck being played.” Which means the fans are upset about the lack of a call for a hit that happened no where near the puck. IE, the definition of interference.
Here is the CBC video in HD, which more clearly shows where the puck is. In my opinion, if Gordon is not interfered with, he at minimum delays Kunitz from helping that puck up the ice to Malkin.
Immediately following that play, Capitals fans began littering the ice with debris. An incident that I am sure will receive much press coverage nationally. While I don’t condone throwing objects on the ice (especially at players and officials), I think the lack of a penalty call on the Penguins is what infuriated the fans to throw. Sure the overtime loss was a dagger, but for it to come right after such a horrible missed call is what did it for Caps fans. For the second year in a row, the Capitals lost a game in overtime with a power play goal against, which was scored directly after the opposing team committed their own uncalled infraction. The Penguins have now won three straight, putting the Capitals up against elimination. Game 6 will be in Pittsburgh on Monday night.
DID YOU WATCH THE GAME??? THEY DIDN’T CALL ANYTHING!! We all know who committed more uncalled penalties and Ovechkin’s rotten ass shouldn’t even been on the ice tonight.
May 9th, 2009 at 8:45 pmYou guys think the Penguins are whiners…All you can do is try to find something other than the fact that you got out skated and played once again!! Suck on it!
May 9th, 2009 at 11:10 pmThe penguins road is paved by the NHL. Might as well watch wrestling for a more realistic script!!!
May 10th, 2009 at 12:40 amCanucks fans littered their ice tonight, but it had more to do with losing and crappy play than anything.
May 10th, 2009 at 12:43 amWow, whine about one call when the Pens were on only their second power play of the game … and it took extra time to get it. And it had zero effect on the play. It’s not like anyone tried to take out a knee.
May 10th, 2009 at 5:38 am