Recap

Blown Call Leads to Goal, Debris

malkin_game_winner

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.

Philip Van der Vossen

Philip Van der Vossen is the Founder of Capitals Outsider. He is a former beer league player, a lifelong Capitals fan, and was a season ticket holder for 20 years.

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