Recipe For Success

UPDATE: The Rangers have asked the NHL to clarify the infraction that led to the penalty shot, but have not asked the league to review Malkin's slew-foots (no suspension), all according to Rangers Report.

You take one part power play, two parts Jagr, and three parts Lundqvist. Mix them in a very large bowl shaped like a perfect circle, sprinkle in a healthy does of timely penalty killing, a pinch of gutty play by injured players and players replacing injured players, and a dash of frustration on the other side, and you have a recipe for winning that keeps the Rangers alive for one more game in their second round series -- not only keeps them alive, but gives them something to build on while sowing seeds of doubt in Pittsburgh to go along with those sprouts of frustration.

This was the Rangers' recipe for success even before losing Sean Avery and Blair Betts, along with some of Chris Drury's effectiveness, to injury -- we'd already gotten an article ready for the upcoming May issue of Blueshirt Bulletin that outlined just how important it was for the Rangers to have Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist, their two most important players, carry them through the playoffs, with the power play chipping in the goals that win games. Against the Devils, it all clicked, even if the power play wasn't there for the first two games and Lundqvist had a couple of games he'd like to have back.

But against the Penguins, there was always something missing. The power play got a huge goal early in Game 1 with Lundqvist keeping the Rangers afloat, but everything went AWOL in blowing a 3-0 lead. Lundqvist sparkled in Game 2, but Jagr and the offense were blanked, with the power play denied the goal that would have sent the game into overtime by a quick whistle. In Game 3, Jagr was a beast, but Lundqvist could not make a game-saving stop and the power play was once again blanked and humiliated, as was the penalty killing for a third straight game. The Pens are to be credited for taking an essential ingredient or two out of the Ranger attack for all or part of those games.

But this time, it all came together for the Rangers. Lundqvist kept the Rangers in a scoreless tie through the first half of the game (31 minutes, actually) when the Pens outshot the Rangers 15-10, including a pair of stops on Evgeni Malkin that had him banging his stick in frustration. But as valiantly as he was playing, the depleted Rangers didn't appear as if they had what it took to score a goal, especially with Scott Gomez having an off game skating with Nigel Dawes and Ryan Callahan, Drury clearly hampered centering Brendan Shanahan and a dynamic Petr Prucha, and Martin Straka losing the handle every time he had a play on his stick (including a breakaway) despite having a good game otherwise.

Jagr took over at the exact moment one would think that it was going to be up to him to do it himself. Surely everyone at the Garden believed just that as he streaked up the left wing on a solo rush, cut to the middle, and whipped a whistler past Marc-Andre Fleury to break the scoreless tie. He lay on the ice for a long time afterwards, unable to celebrate his goal after being laid out with a hit to the head by Brooks Orpik -- he was lying there wishing he could do the celebration scene from "Jerry Maguire", he told reporters later. But he got back up and assisted on Brandon Dubinsky's goal early in the third period and scored the empty netter to seal the deal late in the game -- both of them power play goals, the special team finally coming through after an 0-for-15 streak of futility.

But it wouldn't have held up without Lundqvist's continued heroics. In addition to some flurries around his net and help from one crossbar, Lundqvist stopped a pair of breakaways and a penalty shot -- a shorthanded breakaway by Ryan Malone and one by Malkin that led to his penalty shot. He had help from his defense, with the Rangers outshootiing the Pens 21-8 between the middle of the second period and the last five minutes of the game -- Paul Mara had his best game as a Ranger, aided by some timely plays by Jason Strudwick, playing in place of the Chirstain Backman turn-it-over machine. But the saves on Malkin and Malone were huge, keeping the Pens from striking at the Rangers the way they had in the first three games even when the Rangers were outplaying them.

The penalty shot call was a mystery. Dan Girardi, chasing Malkin without a stick, pushed him lightly in the back with his hands. Somehow, Malkin's legs went out from under him feet-first, defying the laws of physics for a check from behind, but not the dynamics of diving. It was a check from behind, but that penalty is a major penalty designed for dangerous plays where a player can be injured, not the kind of light pushes from behind designed to separate a player from the puck that one sees all game long -- one would think that a major penalty, if warranted, would supersede a penalty shot. Curiously, even though he was not called for diving, an apparent goal was denied Malkin on the continuation of the play because he pushed Lundqvist into the net after the save was made -- but if he went into Lundqvist because of a penalty, it shouldn't have been considered a push. All in all, a series of calls and non-calls that were all wrong.

The game got ugly once the Penguins fell behind 2-0. Apparently believing it their birthright to win every game, to not get hit, and to not have any calls go against them, the Pens lost their cool, beginning with Sidney Crosby, who went after Girardi after a clean check to Marian Hossa, with Malkin, a sore loser after being sportsmanlike in victory, joining in. Both Penguin stars sat in the box together as the Rangers went on the power play, certainly not a recipe for success for Pittsburgh. Then, at the end of the game, as Jagr scored an empty netter, Malkin slew-footed Mara twice, the second time touching off a melee. Drury may have been slew-footed too. Malkin was not penalized for his acts, even after being the beneficiary of the phantom penalty shot call.

But one win does not negate the hole the Rangers are still in. They cannot lose a single game more in this series. Can they recreate their recipe for success again three times in a row, beginning Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh? On the Rangers side of the ledger, Jagr and Lundqvist will have the biggest say, along with the special teams. The Penguins will have something to say about it too, but if their say is no more than the frustration they showed in losing this game, the Rangers will have a good chance to extend the series one game at a time, which is all they're looking for at this point.

Game reports: Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post, Record, Star-Ledger, Vancouver Sun, AP, Toronto Sun, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, National Post, FoxSports, Yahoo! Sports, CBC, NY Sports Day, NYR.com. More on Jagr's heroic game: Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Post, Record, SI.com, ESPN, CBS Sports, TSN, Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review, Beaver County Times. More on Lundqvist's heroic goalkeeping: Newsday, Times, Post, Record, ESPN, NHL.com. More on Malkin's heroic slew-foots: Daily News, Record, Star-Ledger, Toronto Sun, Tribune-Review.

Avery, the internal bleeding stopped, has been released from intensive care, but is unable to eat. See Daily News, Newsday, Blueshirts Blog, AP, Toronto Sun, ESPN. Post-game from reporters' blogs: Rangers Report, Blue Notes, Slap Shot, Blue Seats, and Prospect Park. Live game blog: Blue Notes. Pre-game from reporters' blogs, with Lauri Korpikoski not getting into his first NHL game: Blueshirts Blog, Rangers Report, Blue Notes, Slap Shot. A few other late pre-game entries from yesterday from the Post here and here and the Globe and Mail. From Pittsburgh here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Comments

[i]

repost...
DUBI again the proof keeps mounting on the NHL & it's refs. If Mara or any NYR had slew footed Malkin or Crosby they wouldn't be playing on Sunday. Oprick hits Jagr in the head, no call. If sissy gets hit like that it's 5 and a game. There are plenty more.

[Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D]

also "i" don't forget if you skate by sindey with your stick on the ice and he should fall its tripping.

[Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D]

now they just need to win 1 game 3 times

[Dubi]

ThisYearsModel (from the prior thread) -- You make a good point, which is why I think the call could not have been for hitting from behind. There is no provision for a minor penalty for hitting from behind in the rule book, only a major or match penalty. If it wasn't a breakaway -- if for example Malkin was the last man entering the zone after beating Girardi and Girardi pushed him lightly from behind in open ice, causing him to fall down and lose the puck -- would they call a major for checking from behind? No way -- it wasn't a major penalty. And if it wasn't a major penalty, then it wasn't a penalty at all, the way the rule is defined.

[ThisYearsModel]

DUBI--thanks. That was one of the stranger plays I have seen in awhile. The ref was so excited to call the penalty shot, he blew the goal-no goal and could not have justified an actual infraction against Girardi. Malkin's cheap shots are shameful, but he is getting the start treatment. Glad Mara called him out. Play malkin physically, and you can throw him off his game. Also---Staal was a beast. What a player this kid is going to be.

[Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D]

if you go to the pens NHL site, they actually called Malkin out on the play there, i didn't see it at NYR.com

[Gary]

HUGE win tonight. How did Girardi get a penalty when he was jumped by Crosby and Malkin? Clean check. Get over it Crybaby Crosby. Malkin showed his true colors by slew footing Mara twice on the last shift. What game were the refs watching when this was happening? Cheapshot artists. Still alive to play another day. You never know....

[Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D]

you know what really sucks my nephew is making his first communion this sunday and instead of watching the game at work i have to go this party in jesey, and better yet it starts at 2 oh happy freakin day.

[Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D]

that should have been jersey

[rs27]

I'm a diehard Ranger fan but I thought the officiating in game 4 was pretty darn good outside of Malkin's dirty slew foots with under 2 minutes to go. I have no problem awarding Malkin a penalty shot when Girardi's intent was to stop a breakaway without playing the puck. Its a penalty. I thought Emerick did a great job explaing it on VS. Clear breakaway from the blue line in, infraction which stopped a scoring chance. In fact Gonchar got a penalty for knocking down Sjostrom in front on an almost identical push. The only difference is Gonchar had a stick and Girardi didn't. If that was Jagr and he got pushed by Hal Gill and no penalty shot was called we would be going crazy.

We can talk about officiating all we want but last nights game is not the time. As much as I despise McCreary for making the game about himself most of the time, he was about to call Crosby for roughing on the Girardi hit on Hossa before everyone jumped in.

I know the officiating has been horrendous in the playoffs, but I think it was good last night.

Lundqvist has to play like that the rest of the way because Fleury doesn't look like he's about to crack anytime soon.

[LisaMY]

There goes my hero...

Kudos my hero leaving all the best
You know my hero, the one that's on

I couldn't watch the game live so I asked you guys to cheer Jags for me. Wow. You guys are good!

I've only seen the highlights and the post-game but thanks to MSG, they're replaying the game. The VS commentary is unfortunate but it is what it is.

Paul Mara had an awesome interview after the game. He exuded tremendous confidence and faith in the team and in their next effort on Sunday. There was no fear or worry in him. If the team has that much faith in themselves, how can we not? They've shown me a lot in this game.

For the record: On the Jagr goal, the replay shows that Orpik, apparently thinking he's the 2nd coming of Scott Stevens, crossed the ice and hit Jags in the head with his shoulder. But, you know, Jags scored and he wasn't injured so, no biggie. Right?

Here's a stat from Zipay's blog:

Chris Drury, hampered by sore ribs and side, won 15 of 24 faceoffs and played 20:40.

Great effort, Dru. And let's not forget that Gomez is still playing with damaged ribs that he hurt in the Devils series. In reality it was a couple of weeks ago. But it feels like ages ago. Terrific effort on both their parts.

I don't know anything about major medicine, so here comes an ignorant question. How can Avery can be treated without surgery? How do doctors expect a major organ to just stop bleeding and then be able to pronounce it "fine"? I ask because I don't know.

I hate the in-game interviews on VS. I hate them. I hate them. I HATE them! I think they're disruptive and stupid. Can you imagine a reporter walking up to Joe Girardi in the dugout while his team is at bat and asking him how the game is going? Or a reporter walking up to Derek Jeter after he hits a single and is standing on first base and asking him what he thinks he'll do next? How about Peyton Manning in the middle of the huddle? If that sounds stupid...it's because it is.

Please don't get me wrong. But I have to rant about something. I'm very, very happy about this win. The Cap'n has inspired me. BUT...for the love of Peter, Paul and Mary...why the ---- is Ryan Hollweg still playing? Why, Tom, why?! I never, never, never want to see that jack (blank) playing in a Rangers jersey again. Never! I feel I've been generous in my belief this guy deserves his breaks but no more! Believe me, after Game 2, I was having very evil thoughts. Like, "If only Simon had aimed higher.". Seriously, I was that mad. I've stopped wishing him harm. But I still never want to see him play for the Rangers again. He's had his chances. He blew it. Enough, already.

*lyrics courtesy of the Fighters, known as Foo--apologies for going opposite to the song's intent for celebrating an extra-ordinary hero.

[TheDaz]

Dubi,

yeah, the point I was trying to make during the game was that Toronto saw the play, and knew that they couldn't in good conscience allow that goal even though they SHOULD'VE as per the rules.

As it was, a player pushing the goaltender into the net along with the puck is not illegal, and is a goal, when that player is illegally pushed himself. Here the ref ruled that Malkin was illegally pushed, so it should've been a goal.

HOWEVER, when the men in the NHL war-room in Toronto watched that play, they couldn't fathom how the ref called that an illegal move on Girardi's part, and were loathe to call it a goal because of it. Even they couldn't stomach awarding the Penguins a goal on such a ridiculous call. Yet, in the scheme of things, they made the wrong decision as far as NHL rules go, despite it being objectively correct. It was not their call to second guess the ref, but only to see if the puck went into the net before it was dislodged, which it almost definitely did.

Ultimately, Malkin should never have been awarded a penalty shot. Malkin should perhaps have been given a penalty for storming into Lundqvist, although I'd buy the argument that while he shouldn't be awarded a penalty shot, he also shouldn't have been given a penalty because Girardi knocked him off balance with his legal shove.

Regardless, the Rangers won, and now they've got 3 more to go. And after making me real disheartened about this season, they've got me really looking forward to Sunday again. I hope they don't let me, and us all, down.

GO RANGERS!

[i]

pizza nice of you to visit, see you Sunday. Say hello to Mario for me. How's your baby's sprained ankle? All better now that mommy & mario kissed his boo boo, so baby can go play and fall down if anyone touches the minus one. Then baby can call uncle gary b.

[Steve]

Hey pizzaface the entire USA puts puts baseball,
nascar and football in the headlines ahead of hockey. No one here said they like it. Besides what do over paid Yankees have to do with hockey?
Talk about no concept The only reason you aquired
crosby and malkin is because you sucked so bad!Two years in a row no less. The same thing happened when you got mario not only did you stink you had to tank it, causing the inception of the lottery limiting the chances of you pulling that again.When drafting hockey players except for an occaisional can't miss #1 pick. The rest are a crapshoot at best, because players are 17 or 18 in hockey not 21 or 22 Every team in hockey passed over Lundquist until the Rangers picked him in a later round. You act like picking crosby and malkin was some kind of genius move, every team in hockey was hoping it was them to be so lucky. The Rangers are usually somwhere in the middle of the pack draftwise and have never sucked enough to receive a #1 pick,Where in your post did you even talk about hockey except to acknowledge that Jagr is a warrior or for getting #1 picks for sucking so bad.I live in North Jersey and I take exception to the cesspool comment. Like pittsburg is a great vacation destination.

[i]

pizza too bad baby ducked Orr's hit, but then you would have screamed for a lifetime suspension. Only Jagr should take a shot to the head, and your team gets away with it And Mallkin can slew foot with no penalty. ......How much is baby making? Since you want to talk about payrolls.

[pghas]

Actually, the Pens got Geno and Jordan Staal because they sucked so bad. The got Crosby because the NHL was too stupid to rig the lottery to bring him to NY (we don't want him now anyway) and instead rigged it so he'd go to Pittsburgh so that Gary Bettman could save another small market franchise.

[Angry Roach]

The NHL is a total joke. Cindy Crosby & Malkenstein are the biggest whiners born with silver sticks in their hands compliments of daddy Bettman. I can't take this much longer...Pens whining whenever they get a penalty & them also not getting called when they should have been. If they advance it's Yankees on Yes from here on out. It's too bad - I'm a huge hockey fan & I've watched the playoffs no matter who was in. It's now almost as bad as Slapshot II!
Go Blue!

[Koz]

I've been reading this blog throughout the series because I like to see what both sides are saying. That said, I can't keep quiet any longer.

I am starting to doubt whether any of you folks believe the Rangers ever commit penalties. This talk about a "bogus" penalty shot is absurd. Absolutely absurd. I've been watching review of the game and reading content and I've not seen anyone else question the call. Some of you are so obsessed with this "diving" that you can't get over it.

He was obstructed after being in the clear to go one-on-one with the goalie - how hard is that?

I'm not going to paint all Rangers fans with one brush, but the whining here has been obnoxious. Branch Rickey said, "luck is the residue of design." The Rangers were the best team in Game 4 and got the lucky breaks. If Lundqvist doesn't play out of his mind and the Pens convert a few of those breakaways, it's a whole different game. But, he played great, so in retrospect, Pens fans might look back and say, "coulda woulda shoulda" but reality is chances were there.

Same goes for Games 1-3. Quit complaining about the referees (even in victory!). If the Rangers converted a couple more powerplays, you wouldn't need to whine about it so much. And enough with the Crosby conspiracies - this isn't the NBA. ;-)

I wish I could remember the book, but somewhere I read the concept of "beating the ref." A wrestler was disappointed about not winning a match and was complaining about bad calls to his coach. His coach replied you need to beat the ref. If you put yourself in a situation where a bad call can determine the game, you haven't done your job. Beat the ref.

The Penguins are the better team and are up 3-1 because of it. They are the #2 seed because of it. I respect you if you support your team, but instead of complaining about the officiating, worry about your team being undisciplined.

And just in case any of you want to think I'm blind biased for Pittsburgh, I would have no problem with Malkin being suspended for a game for the slew foot (though he would be sorely missed) and was embarrassed for the immaturity throughout the game, though I understand frustration in young players. That's my problem with the Pens game four performance - no discipline.

[Joe]

Love the idiots who bring up the Yankees. Twenty+ championships and counting. That's more than the entire state of PA in every sport and with every team. Do you know how much baby chowder Crosby will have to swallow to even match the number of rings Jeter has?

[Joe]

Crosby conspiracies will never stop. They are perpetuated not the frustration of the opposing fans but rather by the blatant duplicity of the league and it's inept officiating crews.

[jas]

I think the following quotation would appear to be apropos for Mr. pizzaface

"...what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

[Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D]

Pen's fans are bitter after one loss, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa we lost a game whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the officating didn't go our way, yeah welcome to our world. Iwatched the post game on MSG oeven goring who has a distaste for the rangers didn't think it was a penalty, but what do they know they're only pro's not pen's fans

[Greg]

To everyone who went to the game last night - Did we witness history? Has the "Potvin sucks" chant finally been put to bed, replaced with the much more melodious "Crosby sucks!" chant?

[oleosmirf]

koz

thank you

[rcm]

King Henry to the rescue.What a difference his key saves made. I am really impressed with his clutch ability. Now work on the power play . It still does not look that imposing.

[Chris QCT]

WOW! One loss and the Pens fans are losing their minds already. The game is a lot different when the "Crosby Rules" are not in play and the game is called fairly.

"I've been reading the whole time, but now that they lost...

The weather ain't so fair today, eh? I hope their team unravles just as quickly as their fair weather fans do...

[Leo]

Dubi,

Great job on the recap. I think the penalty should have been awarded on Giardi's play but Malkin did embelish it a bit. The refs were pretty even. A number of calls for both teams went uncalled. Rangers did a great job and to the Penguins fans that had something to say about Drury - he got hurt during the play and NOT when he was raising his arms. The fact that regardless of how much pain he is in, he played great so learn some respect.

I was doubting that Rangers can pull this off and that Jagr is a captain. Well we have to have faith. One win at a time.

[Chris QCT]

Win on Sunday and we'll hear the crying in Pttsburgh all the way up here. It's not surprising. The team is a group of whiney kids, led by a whiney coach. How could you expect the fans to be anything less? The Pens lose and their fans are blasting the Yankees...lmao!!

Just win one more game. They crumbled last year when they started losing...

[NCSteve]

Where's the justice? If Girardi had head-hunted Malkin or Crosby after either of those two classless louts had scored, he would be looking at sitting out the rest of the series and probably next year, too. What were the refs talking about after the goal? Sure looked similar to the match misconduct Orr got versus Cullen and the 'Canes. Oh, but maybe they were applying the same laws that were used when Mara suffered his "legal" head injury in Buffalo, which forced the Rangers' stellar defenceman to take a two-month vacation.

Jagr had his head handed to him and no call? The man gets little respect.

Hey, Rangers, we believe, baby!!!

[timber]

KOZ

You are dead wrong. Malkin was not obstructed. He was pushed. Defensemen who have lost their sticks have been allowed to push players away from the crease with two hands since the days of George Vezina and Howie Morenz.

You simply do not know the rules.

[NYRanger4Life]

I was at the game last night - got hooked up (understatement) with a seat in Sec 40 row J - and you could actually see the look of determination on Jagrs face all game.

The best moment of the night for me was w/out a doubt the "Jagr" chants that echoed throughout the building.

This aint over fellas..... one shift, one period, one game at a time.

We can do it.... we just gotta believe.

[Dubi]

What everyone else chooses to write about is their business, but I can tell you that every single reporter in the press room spent the entire intermission and much of the post-game trying to figure out what the penalty was and why the goal wouldn't count if Malkin was taken down. Both coaches were asked about it, and both coaches made sarcastic comments indicating they were unhappy with the calls that went against them on the play (no surprise there).

Koz, there is a fatal flaw in your analysis of the play -- you say that Dan-o took Malkin down without making a play on the puck. By that logic, every body check is a penalty. Of course, that's not true. Koz, instead of taking Mike Emrick's word for it, I recommend you take a look at the rule book and see if you can locate a penalty that makes it illegal to knock the player with the puck off the puck.

Furthermore, you need to take a more complete look at the play if you're going to condemn our coverage of it -- it wasn't just a penalty shot, it was also a negated goal. If Girardi committed an infraction in taking down Malkin, then the goal should have counted. It was either a penalty and therefore a goal, or no penalty and therefore an improperly awarded penalty shot. The actual result -- penatly shot -- made no sense either way, even if Girardi penalized him.

[Jed Orts]

Greg

I went to the game again last night and I heard the Potvin chant way more times than I have in the last 3 games I went to combined. It's always one idiot that does it and all the fans were just fired up so they started getting back in to it.

For everyone that didn't go, Dancin' Larry was at his best during a commercial break and he had a 2 foot baby bottle with him. He was waving it in front of the camera getting everyone in the garden going nuts.

Also, you can text the jumbotron and everyone kept sending "get well soon sean avery." I sent a message in that said, "Get well Sean Avery -- From Marty Brodeur," but for some reason they never posted it!

I never got the see the replay of the penalty shot call but enough about the refs already, let's go out there and go all out game 5!!!

[pghas]

Win one game, three times.

[NYRanger4Life]

Dubi-

What is the protocol re: the NHL looking into possible suspensions stemming from Game 4?
Malkin's slew foot was clearly pre-meditated, and he did it not once but TWICE!

There is no room in this league for those types of malicious plays - he deserves to sit out the next game. If Avery had committed that play, you'd be your ass he'd already be suspended. Bettman needs to make the right move here.

[Dubi]

"The only difference is Gonchar had a stick and Girardi didn't." -- A KEY difference -- with a stick, it's cross-checking, without a stick, it's a push. One of the things we were joking about in the press room was that the call was "intent to crosscheck" -- actually, we were in the interview room after the game waiting for Therrien to come out and speak, Renney had been asked about the call earlier, and reporters (and I mean guys from Canada and Pittsburgh as well as New York) were all going around the room trying to figure out what the call could have been, and I repeated the "intent to cross-check" line I'd heard earlier and got a hearty laugh out of everyone.

[Koz]

Dubi,

First of all, I don't think the goal counted because you can't see anything conclusive on the replay to determine it was or wasn't. Replays have to be conclusive evidence. The best we've got this morning is a blurry still image with what we think might be the puck maybe over the line, but no way to tell if it is over completely, or if it's even the puck at all. The quality is no better than the Zapruder film. Not ruled a goal on the ice, inconclusive by replay, no goal.

Secondly, referees have the chance to make penalty calls at full speed and are not reviewable by replay. Watch that at full speed and tell me that a player with no stick who pushes/grabs a player in the clear from behind isn't committing a penalty.

I see no problem with the way anything was ruled.

[Dubi]

NYR4Life -- I'd be surprised if the protocol didn't go something like this -- "Malkin? You want us to suspend Malkin from a playoff game? LOL! LOL! LOL!" The actual protocol is that either the Rangers, the refs, or the war room alerts Colin Campbell about the play, he takes a look at it, and if he feels it warrants further attention, he calls the relevant parties and then makes a ruling one way or the other. Since the refs didn't even give Malkin a minor penalty, don't count on them making a report. The Rangers will not stir up the pot at this point. So it's up to Colie himself -- hence, see my first line up top.

[timber]

KOZ

"...tell me that a player with no stick who pushes/grabs a player in the clear from behind isn't committing a penalty."

Nice try joining PUSH and GRAB as if they are equal actions. They are complete opposites. Grabbing is a penalty --- pushing is not.

Again, have you never seen defensemen who have lost a stick pushing players who have scoring chances away with both hands. It is never called. Why? BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING IN THE RULE BOOK THAT SAYS PUSHING IS A FOUL.

[Mark W.]

Therrien whining about the no goal. Forgive me if I don't feel bad for whatever reason.

Remember when we were whining about calls and all we heard was "well if you converted your power plays you wouldn't have to whine"? Well the friggin chickens have come to roost, Michel. If Malkin converts his PS, the whining stops.

[Mark W.]

Dubi

So what was the consensus in the press room as to what Girardi's infraction was? My brother and me couldn't figure it out. It can't be a cross-check (no stick), but they called it roughing? For pushing him? This is hockey, right?

[Dubi]

Koz, I don't mean to make this sound like an insult, but what you think about the replay doesn't mean much because there was an actual ruling published by the NHL, and the ruling was: no goal because Malkin pushed Lundqvist into the net. There was enough indisputable visual evidence to determine that he puck crossed the line before the net came off it's moorings.

As for the push from behind, again, it's not a matter of what you think the call was, it's a matter of the rule book -- full speed or whatever, an NHL referee knows that there is no provision in the rule book for a minor penalty for a push from behind, which is why he doesn't make call fifty times a game. It doesn't matter whether it was a breakaway or not -- there still has to be an actual penalty that is in the rule book.

The only rule that comes close is "checking from behind" -- but checking from behind is a major penalty meant to protect players from injury, not a minor penalty meant to protect their right to maintain control of the puck. Otherwise, Girardi did nothing wrong. That is was a clear breakaway is immaterial except insofar as a penalty shot can be awarded rather than just a penalty -- there still has to be an actual penalty.

Now, if your argument is that at full speed on a clear breakaway the ref felt that Girardi must have done something wrong in pushing Malkin and therefore awarded him the penalty shot, then I'd agree with you, that is exactly what the ref did. Problem is, there was no actual penalty, so it was a bad call.

Maybe you and some other people are tired of having all these bad calls analyzed here -- that's fair. You can skip over those parts if you like. But I'm not going to ignore them just because we're all so resigned to the fact that bad calls like these are going to decide games one way or the other. I'm not going to ignore the ref blowing a quick whistle just because it's the fiftieth quick whistle rather than the first. I'm not going to ignore the ref calling a penalty shot in a playoff game just because it was full speed and it was hard for him to see what actually happened -- that's his damn job.

[Dubi]

No, Mark -- it wasn't roughing, that was a later call against Girardi. The consensus in the press room (not a consensus, but a unanimity of opinion) was that no one could figure out what the infraction was, but that if it was an infraction, then how can you negate the goal based on a push? The refs never gave anyone an explanation of what the infraction was.

[Bob Merchant]

The odds are against us, we all know that but if we somehow win Sunday, we'll have a series. My take, if a game 6 is forced, watch out. Jagr playing and Hank playing like that, it could happen.

Gotta get past game 5 for me to even think like that.

[jason]

One shift at a time...

[Mark W.]

I know what the infraction was. Here's the hints: Bettman, Penguins, VS.

[Koz]

Timber, et al.,

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this. My point is no referee worth his whistle isn't calling a penalty shot on that. To complain about it requires some severe armchair quarterbacking and hindsight. If the jerseys are reversed you have no problem with it or would be screaming conspiracy for the Penguins if no shot had been awarded.

EJ Hradek made a great point on NHL Live this week when a Ranger fan called in to complain about officiating. He asked the caller when he thought the officiating was good. EJ humorously noted no one ever looks back fondly and says, "Wow, you know the officiating in 2002... that was really consistent! What a good job those guys did."

[Chris QCT]

It's been 33 years!

The first team to come back from 3-0 was 1942 Maple Leafs. Thirty-three years later it was the 1975 Islanders. Thirty-three years after that is 2008.

[Dubi]

Koz, I'm sorry, but the "if the jerseys were reversed" and the "officiating is always bad" arguments are just not going to convince me. First of all, the reverse-jersys argument is irrelevant -- as you can see, I've been saying all along that the no-goal call against the Pens was wrong if you accept that Girardi committed a foul. And if you ask me E.J.'s question, I'll give you an honest answer -- Game 5 of the Devils series everyone was relieved to finally get some good officiating after a terrible three games in a row (look it up in our comments section) and just the last game of this series everyone agreed that the officiating was good (no incorrect game-changing calls, including the call on Hollweg).

OK, here's my final word on the subject and then I'm going to drop it. I just read in a Pittsburgh paper that Girardi "grabbed" Malkin from behind, which of course is not true, he clearly pushed him. So heere's the only way the call makes sense from the ref's point of view:

The ref sees Malkin coming straight at him and Girardi coming in from behind him. He sees Girardi do something from behind, but he can't tell what from his position. He sees Malkin's legs come out from under him, so he assumes Girardi grabbed him, which is the only way the legs come out like that (if it was a push the torso would go forward first, not the feet). Grabbing would be a penalty, no question about it.

So what we have is this: Girardi push, Malkin dive -- ref doesn't see the push, only sees the dive, assumes grab. The War Room sees the full replay, realizes what actually happened. They can't overturn the penalty call or call Malkin for a dive. But they can make sure the Pens don't get a goal off the dive. In theory, two wrongs shouldn't make a right, but as we all know, as long as officials remain as infallible as the pope, that's the only way to make up for refereeing errors. And the NHL remains a joke of a league.

[i]

The question is what is allowed to be done to a guy with a breakaway, and is it different than a guy with the puck in the zone & why? That penalty means you can't touch him unless you get along side of him or in front of him, than it's ok.