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.

[timber]

KOZ

The fact that you might not find a ref with the marbles not to make a penalty shot call .... when there was no penalty .... is hardly a strong argument on your part. But whatever.

Let me ask you this --- why can't the Penguins take a hit and move on? Were you not a little embarrassed to see Sid, face shield and all, trying to get at Girardi for the clean check on Hossa? Do you understand the difference between Jagr getting up from the hit he took and playing hockey, and Sid having a tantrum over an excellent mid-ice collision?

[Dro]

good game, don't plan on having the officials hand you another win in pittsburgh though. and malking scored, no question it should have been a goal, no need for a penalty shot. not too worried about it though, pens hardly played a game and the rangers still scratched a win out. pens in 5.

[Mark W.]

Having the officials hand US another game? Do you know something that I don't? Is hell having a cold front soon?

And they say we whine.

[dro]

oh, and i think you might want to look at the breakaway again. dive? seriously get off the diving bandwagon. you call for a dive every time someone goes down. check out dubinsky before he scored his goal. wow.

jagr. shave whatever is on your face. the rest of you, break out the golf clubs.

[cr]

Dro,

The puck clearly crossed the line before the ref blew the whistle but the rule is: If the goalie makes a save and then he and the puck are pushed into the net by a falling opponent (even if he was checked) it is not a goal. The review was not to determine if it crossed the line before the whistle, but to confirm that Lundqvist made the save initially (which he did) and then was pushed into the net by malkin.

[Denver Frank]

Great game boys! Jags was a force again. Malkin was a disgrace and Sid the Puss was too. Paul R said it best above as I did yesterday. Win 1 game 3 times and the series is ours. Saw the Avs/Wings game last nite and while I love the Avs, I pity anyone having to play Detroit right now. They are ROLLING!

[Godot]

Look, it's the simple:

The refs blew the call. So they "replayed" the breakaway in the form of a penalty shot.

As for what happened, maybe the ref saw Malkin's feet go out in front of him, hit the puck and decided it was a distinct kicking motion.

Hmmm... the Pens fans are here complaining about the officiating, after saying the Rangers fans shouldn't have complained about the officiating in previous games. No sympathy here.

We have shown we can win at the Igloo; we played good enough for half of game 1 and all of game 2 to win (ad my brother said the other day--this series could easily be 3-1 the other way), we just have to finish. One game at a time, Rangers. One period at a time.

G

[Mark W.]

Dro

When the Pens sell out(or at least avoid bankruptcy) when they suck like the Rangers do, then maybe you can come here and talk about bandwagons.

[Koz]

Dubi,

I respect your last comment and analysis of the situation. After re-reading the original blogpost, I figured out what set me off.

Your comment and analysis of the situation at 11:01 AM is insightful and makes me reconsider my perspective. However, your original post insinuating diving, which is ridiculous. Dubi, they play on ice. They are skating full speed. A push from behind can make you fall (penalty or not). Anyone who has ever been on skates knows that. Your insinuation of diving makes your original post much less objective and professional, IMHO. You can say it's a bad call without asking for a dive. Looking back, I don't think I would have gone ballistic on your original post had you not mentioned the D-word.

I can see your confusion over what the infraction is to warrant a penalty shot. That said, I don't think it's so egregious that a ref should be skewered for it. I still think it's going to be called 99 times out of 100. This mystery could be cleared up a little if the scoresheets indicated the infraction causing the penalty shot. Why isn't that included? It seems like a strange omission to me.

I didn't know about the "official ruling" of the replay until you posted it here. That's a crazy interpretation and makes Therrien's joke about Malkin finishing his check even funnier. I don't know how they saw anything conclusive, but it's disappointing to hear apparently they did and made that interpretation.

The comments side from yours that suggest conspiracy, scandal, and the like detract from an otherwise well crafted argument on your part. It's hard to see through the thick blue haze of whining to find cogent discussion. Maybe you ought to turn the comment approval filter back on. ;-)

Good talk, see you out there.

[oleosmirf]

Dubi

i might have interpreted you wrong but are you saying that according to NHL rules if a player loses his stick he is technically allowed to push a player from behind on a breakaway???

[oleosmirf]

koz

personally i don't think malkin took a dive but since you come across as a reasonable penguins fan would you admit that Crosby dives or embellishes more than the average player and for lack of a better word the NHL has a hard on for Sidney Crosby.

[i]

DUBI "And the NHL remains a joke of a league." THANK YOU , it's truly a shame and they will lose old time hockey fans, and get WWF type fans.I'm pretty close to believing the double standard is a wink wink plan. And I'm not a happy NYR because of the treatment they have been getting just in this round, never mind before this. Guys like Jagr & Shanahan need to speak up , and they need plenty of company to get it fixed. actually unfixed!

[cr]

dro

You've obviously never even stood on the ice with skates before. When you apply force to the back of a player’s blade with your stick it is incredibly easy to push him over because there is no friction between the blade and the ice when it's pushed at that angle. And Dubi capitalized on the NON-call and score. Malkin was correctly awarded a penalty shot and made one of the worst attempts I've ever seen (someone should investigate to determine if he was shaving points even if they were losing).

As ntb posted last night regrading the rewarding of a penalty shot:

Rule 25.8:
There are four (4) specific conditions that must be met in order for the Referee to award a penalty shot for a player being fouled from behind. They are:
(i) The infraction must have taken place in the neutral zone or attacking zone, (i.e. over the puck carrier’s own blue line);

(ii) The infraction must have been committed from behind;

(iii) The player in possession and control (or, in the judgment of the Referee, clearly would have obtained possession and control of the puck) must have been denied a reasonable chance to score (the fact that he got a shot off does not automatically eliminate this play from the penalty shot consideration criteria. If the foul was from behind and he was denied a “more” reasonable scoring opportunity due to the foul, then the penalty shot should be awarded);

(iv) The player in possession and control (or, in the judgment of the Referee, clearly would have obtained possession and control of the puck) must have had no opposing player between himself and the goalkeeper.

Even if Girardi's push is normally a clean check, Malkin was clearly on a breakaway and was denied and reasonable opportunity to score. The no-goal call was ABSOLUTELY correct because Hank made the original save and then he and the puck were pushed into the net; and in my opinion the penalty shot should have been called (if it was a Ranger who had been taken down on an identical play we would all be outraged). I've been as upset about the officiating in the playoffs and all season long as much as anybody, but on this series of events I think they made every correct call.

[rs27]

I can't believe I'm going to actually agree with Pens fans, but we need to let the officiating argument die. I mean its out of control. The Rangers had 7 powerplays to the Pens 4 and overall the game was well officiated.

Yes, I have a problem with the way Crosby is babied on the ice, but last night wasn't the night. I'll say it again, If Jagr was on a breakaway and got pushed like that we would all be screaming how it should be a penalty shot. You can't just push a guy from behind when he has the puck. Can you? I don't think so. Stick or no stick. This is the only place where I've even seen mention that it shouldn't be a penalty. Sorry, can't do it.

I love this site and all the content, but this kind of talk really bothers me. As Ranger fans we should be above this stuff.

Last night's game was a game to celebrate the way Jagr has played in these playoffs and the guts of the Rangers to come out and play well banged up. Need a similar efforet on Sunday to get it done.

[ant]

Thats it boys one step at a time

[Sean]

Sore losers and sore winners? Wow.

[Anthony M]

Like many fans, I am still trying to figure what the heck happened with the penalty shot call. Odds are, we will never know "the rest of the story". In all seriousness, I want to commend Koz for putting forth his argument. Rather than be an annoying fan (believe me, both Ranger and Pen fans can be annoying), he did so in a manner that makes this "thing of ours (or Dubi's I should say)" work.

Hopefully, we will have a chance to keep talking with Koz about this series through the middle of next week. ;-)

[oleosmirf]

cr and rs27

couldnt agree more

[i]

http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Hockey/2008/05/02/5449686-sun.html

[cr]

oleo that's a first for us

[Jameson]

Not coming up with a win through games 1 through 3 looms so large, I think we can come back from this if we take it a game at a time...as a fan, I'm allowed to look ahead, and if we win Sunday that means we go back to home ice with the chance to tie the series. We win there like we should and it's back to Pittsburgh for a game 7. But man if this game was tied 2-2...damn. We could take this in 6 no problem.

I said it in the previous thread but Pittsburgh looked more rattled than a team that's still up 3-1 should have by the end of the game. If we come out like we played yesterday and we get the 1st goal I think that game is ours for the taking. We cannot get behind. And we have to take what we did right on the powerplay tonight and continue to do it.

[Mark W.]

No one's complaining today, we're trying to figure out the whole Malkin PS thing.

[pghas]

cr -

I think you're misunderstanding something - all four of those conditions have to be met but additionally an infraction has to be committed. If I have the puck at the redline and am skating towards the goalie and you are able to catch up to me and deliver a clean body check that knocks me off the puck, not only shouldn't I get a penalty shot, but you shouldn't get a penalty. That situation meets all four criteria above except no infraction occurred.

I too am surprised to see why it was ruled no goal. Every angle they showed us on TV was inconclusive with respect to whether or not the net was off its moorings before the puck went in, or else it looked like it happened afterwards. I would assume, though, that if Girardi committed a penalty on the play, then since he was the one who caused the net to come off its moorings it would have been a goal.

I think Dubi nailed it.

[iceycup]

what does "slew-footed" mean? its obviously an act intended to injure, but in what way?

[iceycup]

nevermind. i got it.

[Mark W.]

iceycup

slew-footing is using your skate to kick out another player's skate from underneath him, he could fall back and slam his head on the ice.

[cr]

Jameson

They looked rattled because it's a team comprised of young and immature players with a whiny, hypocritical coach. The Rangers are a level-headed group of players with great veteran leadership and a coach who is always respectful of opponents and their abilities and knows how to keep his players in the right mindset. Let's hope the Pens don't know how to handle a bad loss and fold under the adversity of facing a better team.

[ThisYearsModel]

CR

Yes, but what is the definition of "fouled?" You have to commit an actual foul. A push is not a foul. Hooking, holding, slashing, crosschecking, these are fouls according to the rule. Pushing someone is not a foul. If pushing a guy from behind who has the puck were a penalty,there would be one on every shift. The defending player has to commit a foul. The push is not a foul. Pollock was so excited to call the penalty shot that he blew the call on the goal, and made a bad call to boot. This is really not rocket science.....the highest-paid officials on earth should not screw this up like Pollock did. The War Room must have been mortified when they reviewed the play and realized that there was no cause to call a penalty shot.

[ant]

RS 27

"If Jagr was on a breakaway and got pushed like that we would all be screaming how it should be a penalty shot"

No we wouldnt becasue Jagr would never fall like that.

[Effigy of the Forgotten]

I personally didnt see a problem with the penalty shot call.

I do wonder how refs missed Orpik giving Jagr a head shot right after scoring. Maybe they were napping again.

[cr]

pghas

I understand your point and thought the same thing during the game, but I think the infraction comes from Malkin having a direct line to the goal and Girardi pushing him from behind. If Girardi had caught up to Malkin and was even with him when he pushed him, it would not have been called.

[ant]

Pens fans will one of you PLEASE tell Cindy to get rid of that mustache.He looks like a retarted 15 year old with a mustache that he drew right before the game with crayons.

[cr]

Thisyearsmodel

The referee did not blow the call on the goal. Look at Dubi's post about rule 78.5. I've said it three times. Henrik made the save and was then pushed into the net. No goal.

[oleosmirf]

thisyearsmodel

common sense would tell you blatantly pushing someone from behind to prevent a breakaway is a penalty shot.

[pghas]

cr -

Yeah, but what's the penalty? Checking from behind? I dioon't think those four rules constitute an infraction. They detail when a penalty shot should be awarded for an infraction. But there's no infraction in those lines themselves.

[Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D]

from lets go pens, I think its funny how they refer to what happened to Malkin:

Pens shut out 3-0 by Rangers (2-May-08)
The Penguins lose their first game in the playoffs as Rangers goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, has a 29-save shutout in front of 18,200 at Madison Square Garden. Jaromir Jagr scored the eventual game-winner (seconds before being flattened by Brooks Orpik) at the 12:45 mark of the second period. Evgeni Malkin was awarded a penalty shot with under two minutes to go in the second after being hauled down on a breakaway but was unable to beat Lundqvist's glove. Brandon Dubinsky scored a power play goal early in the third and Jagr closed out the scoring with an empty-netter with 14 seconds to go.

so a slight push is hauled down? Interesting remember what happened to Avery during the debbies series where he was collored and thrown what would that be called?

[pghas]

I guess what I mean is that the player has to be denied a reasonable opportunity to score through a committed infraction.

[Dubi]

oleo -- A push from behind is only a penalty when it is a major or match penalty. There is no provision in the NHL rule book for pushing or checking from behind as a minor penalty. You are allowed to hit the player with the puck from behind if you are attempting to separate him from the puck without danger of injuring him. Look it up in the rule book.

[wwwc9]

Dro,

Right before Dubinski falls, Malone jabs either the back of Dubi's knee or the bottom of his skate with his stick. Who hasn't done that before? It's still a penalty either way.

People just want a fair game called. I wonder if the NHL ever does ref quality assurance where they break down games and have people discuss what is a penality and what isn't.

Your pens are up 3-1. The rangers have to win on Sunday. Can the rangers keep it going and can Sid and crew close it out? Should be a great game. They should play tonight!

[Cutter]

"We have to believe," Jagr said. "That's where you start everything. If you don't believe, you don't have a chance. You have to believe that anything is possible. Then you have to put the pieces together."

BELIEVE.

Let's go Rangers!!!

[Dubi]

We're not complaining about the officiating, we are dissecting one single sequence that Michel Therrien called the turning point of the game because he thought his team scored a legitimate goal on which no one can find an actual infraction. Otherwise, the game was well called, although Paul Mara would take exception to that characterization with respect to the slew-foots.

Sadly, the NHL has not implemented a rule to protect players' heads from shoulder checks. Jagr said the hit was clean, I thought the hit was clean considering the way the rule book is written. Can't complain about that call -- can only complain on the sportsmanship of a head-hunter. But Scott Stevens is in the Hall of Fame for making plays like that -- welcome to the NHL!

[oleosmirf]

dubi

well the NHL should add another revision to their Rule Book as that should be a penalty.

[jason]

I don't see how the penalty shot call wasn't correct. He was behind the player who had a full out breakaway. Played the body from behind, not the puck. That, in the 20 years I've been playing hockey and watching is a penalty shot, no questions asked.

To break up a breakaway, while being behind the player who has it, you have to play the puck and not the body to legally do it.

That's just my 2 cents.

[Dubi]

By the way, I don't see how we look at the playoffs this year without considering the impact of officiating -- Game 2 vs. Devils, 2-0 Rangers, Devils score off uncalled face-off interference, they get called for it next time, Betts doesn't get called for a hold or hook, coach throws a stick on the ice with no call, Devils whistled for an icing while shorthanded -- cripes!

Game 3, OT goal off uncalled interference. Game 4, Rangers are called twice for goalie interference that was caused by Devil hits, but they get a key tying goal when Parise slashes the stick out of Lundqvist's hands. Game 1 Penguins, arguable interference call that leads to the winning goal, Game 2 the tying goal disallowed by a quick whistle, Game 4 the Penguin coach says an improperly denied goal took his team out of the game.

And it's not just Rangers -- Philly accuses Montreal of getting Canada calls, then Montreal accuses the refs of responding to that accusation in making a key call against them. Before that, Philly stays in their Game 7 vs. Caps on a goal scored directly off blatant goalie interference that wasn't called. And there was that hit out west, forget which teams, that wasn't called.

It's not a conspiracy against the Rangers, Philly, or anyone -- it's officiating that has gone so far down the crapper that it is taking the fun out of the game. How is that not worth talking about? Ignore it and it will only come to be taken for granted. Show me another sport that tolerates anything more than the occasional error in officiating.

[captjameson]

the only thing that really disappointed me last night was a few dumb asses booing hollywood when he touched the puck. the one game when they really need the fans behind them...

bunch of savages.

[BobbyC]

You know what, who cares about the penalty shot. We got the win. That is all that matters.

Now let's hope our boys can bring the series back to New York.

We need to keep playing hard nosed hockey. Keep pounding Crosby and Malkin. Can't fault them for sticking up for their teammate. Let's keep giving them reasons for having to stick up for them.

Sidenote: I would love to see Callahan and Crosby drop the gloves.

Rosival and Gonchar would have been a great fight to watch. Though Gonchar did have the face shield.

We need to keep making this emotional, keep fighting and keep working.

One game at a time, one shift at a time.

Jagr is a beast!!

Let's go Rangers!!

[Koz]

Dubi, you missed the biggest officiating scandal of the 2008 playoffs. It was so big it was actually covered on ESPN. (*GASP!* Hockey on ESPN!?)

The Avery Rule.

[Colorado Mark]

My .02 cents on the subject at hand. I don't think Malkin dove. I've done a lot of one-on-one powerskating coaching, and when you push the small of the back of a player it sends your feet forward.

I also don't think it was necessarily "whiny" or unsportsmanlike of Crosby to go after Girardi for that hit on Hossa. There are plenty of times that teammates do (and rightfully so) go after a player for a clean hit. It was a stupid play, though. With your team down 2-0 and you are the captain and best player (and co-best player joining in= even more stupid), Crosby should have let someone else take care of that, but that is the lack of discipline that Koz rightfully was pointing out. I would have loved to see someone take a run at Orpik for the clean hit on Jags, but it was discipline shown by the experienced team that didn't follow through (although Dubinsky yapped at Orpik a bit). If the team spent energy on retribution, it would take that energy away from the task at hand. Unfortunately, the Rangers don't have the luxury to seek any kind of vigilante justice. It's a credit to the experience and discipline instilled in this team.

[Colorado Mark]

I also find it hilarious that Rozy and Gonchar dropped the gloves (Gonchar looked shocked when Rozy dropped them- I was too!) and didn't get a penalty. It's as if the Refs were saying, "Awww, isn't that cute! Two little boys pretending to be big men! Let me get my camera!"

[Matt]

Guys,

The penalty shot was awarded correctly. Malkin did NOT dive. For any of you who play hockey, next time you're out there have a guy push down and out on your hip and see if you don't move. It's a precarious position to be touched. As a defenseman, I was always taught to push there to get a guy out from in front of the net. It works. Not all the time, but often enough. That's where Malkin got pushed, and it's more than believable that that caused him to go down. Also, I think the fact that Girardi dove along with pushing Malkin just showed to the ref that he was just trying to stop him from getting a shot off, any way possible. Good call, in my opinion.

[Colorado Mark]

CHRIS QCT- You missed my Numerology post in the previous thread! Check it out!

ONETIMER- I'm still an old goalie, but I haven't played much in the past three years. I was a limited-talent who refused to give up my dream, which allowed me to stick around a lot longer than I should have. After getting cut from the Chiefs (and paying my respects to the Dog that Saved Johnstown!), I spent the season in Nova Scotia playing for the Bridgewater Blues in the Maritime Semi-Pro league.I was a pretty good skater, though, and spent years teaching skating (My students include Brad Richards, Phil Kessell, Ryan Suter and Randy Jones) even while wearing goalie skates! I prefer playing "out" now, but people always convince me to get back in the net once in a while.

[azj]

re: The penalty shot... I'm as puzzled as the rest of you. That said, my only critique of Dubi's argument is about how surprised he is that Malkin fell onto his heels. I haven't watched the replay, to be fair, but if girardi's push was at all at the hip and downward (if he caught Malkin's hockey pants and not his back) and Malkin was leaning on his heels, then he's going to fall that way -- I recall him slowing up for the breakaway, so I don't think its far fetched to see this happening...

Regardless, 1-6 on the powerplay is still not good enough (ignoring the empty netter). Every time the pens are up a man, I'm worried. When we're up a man, I'm thankful that it's 2 minutes where the other team won't score. That's not right.

[azj]

I see Matt beat me to the point...

[azj]

COLORADO MARK: Rozy couldn't swing cause Gonchar has a shield. Did you see Shanny rush over and try to strip him of his helmet to even things up?

[rangerbill94]

First on the Malkin penalty shot:

It's fine with me if all the Pens fans are right. They got shafted, the goal should have counted, Girardi should have gotten a major and a game misconduct for "intent to injure" and they still should have gotten a penalty shot but the ice should have been cleaned before he took it to give Malkin a "fair" shot at scoring! None of that happened and we got the "break", for a change. TS!

Next the Girardi hit:

Dan should never have gotten any penalty, he gets jumped by two guys and just pushed back. And Lips has the gall to claim "Hoss was run". If he needs a vision of "running" a player, check out Orpik on Jagr and Jagr's reaction was it was a good hit! Class vs. childish, immature coverups for a stupid reaction to a very good check.

Finally to Dro:

I know being a fan leads to blindness, but Malone pushed the blade of his stick into the back of Dubinsky's calf. #1, that's a penalty. #2, can't be a dive, you stand on the ice and let me push into your calf and lets see what you do? #3, Dubi get up and plays the game, unlike the lipstick kid and his dirty sidekick, Gino the slewfooting pizza delivery boy. #4, Dubinsky beats you great goalie with a backbreaking goal.

[pghas]

Geno the slew-footing pizza delivery boy? The lipstick kid?

Boy, I hope this series continues through to seven games just so I can hear more of these incredibly funny, hilarious nicknames.

[Matt]

Pghas,

I agree. I've been laughing my butt off.

[Matt]

Pghas,

I agree. I've been laughing my butt off.

[Matt]

Pghas,

I agree. I've been laughing my butt off.

[i]

http://www.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?hlg=20072008,3,224&event=NYR1004 .....again no penalty, just what is the ref looking at?

[i]

diaper changing stations are available for the playpens dressing room

[cr]

Dubi:

Nobody seems to be listening to the rest of us. Can you please restate the rule and confirm that the no-goal call on Malkin's breakaway was absolutely correct because Lundqvist made save and was then pushed into the net. We didn't catch a break there guys, the right call was made.

[Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D]

would love to see a huge Penguin implosion here.

[Dubi]

Koz -- Yeah, the Avery rule. But that didn't affect the outcome of the game, and in that case the ref made the right call, which even Brodeur agreed upon. There was an issue of sportsmanship there, but the ref handled it correctly (except for letting Brodeur get away with a spear). Now, making up a rule on the fly in between games, that's a different story, but at least it didn't happen in-game.

But cripes, when you have things like this penalty shot-no goal and the end of the Game 2 vs. the Devils where both teams are being screwed by one mistake after another, and these calls are having such huge impacts on the outcomes, then clearly there is a crisis in officiating.

[Dubi]

Sorry, cr -- But the no-goal ruling was wrong if you accept that there was Malkin was taken down by an infraction. There are only three possible results of the sequence if the rule book is enforced properly:

Option 1: If Girardi is guilty of a penalty, then Malkin did not "push" Hank, as the ruling requires. There was enough visual evidence that the puck was in before the net came off, so it should have been a goal.

Option 2: Girardi's push from behind, not being enough of a push to qualift as a major penalty under "Rule 44 Checking From Behind", is not a penalty, therefore no penalty shot should be awarded. In this case, the War Room ruling that Lundqvist was pushed in after the save would be valid.

Option 3: Malkin dove -- no penalty on Girardi, no goal.

No matter how you slice it or dice, it should either have been a penalty and a goal, or no penalty and no goal. There is no scenario under the rules where a penalty shot should have resulted -- that could, by definition, come about only because either or both rulings were wrong.

Regardless of which side you're on, the refs and/or the war room made at least one mistake that screwed at least one mistake, and may have even made two mistakes that screwed both teams. Thank you,Mssrs. Bettman, Campbell, and Walkom, for making a mockery out of our great game!

[zengolfguy]

A couple or 3 things...

* Matt has now laughed 3 asses off. Try and stay out from behind him...

* I too think it would be hilarious to see the flightless bird boys implode, I'm just not counting on it happening. Too much talent there. But if we can win on Sunday, ooooo boy, there are going to be some very tight sphincters in the Triangle...

* They actually are bringing to mind the last Quebec Nordique teams. Lots of really talented forwards, just learning to play together. But Wendell Clark would have kicked the snot out of any team mate who dove like...well, you know.

* Lastly, win or lose, this is a hell of a lot more fun than the years where we were already watching baseball!

Good luck Sunday Blueshirt faithful. Have a cold one for me...

[Matt]

"Option 1: If Girardi is guilty of a penalty, then Malkin did not "push" Hank, as the ruling requires. There was enough visual evidence that the puck was in before the net came off, so it should have been a goal.

Option 2: Girardi's push from behind, not being enough of a push to qualift as a major penalty under "Rule 44 Checking From Behind", is not a penalty, therefore no penalty shot should be awarded. In this case, the War Room ruling that Lundqvist was pushed in after the save would be valid.

Option 3: Malkin dove -- no penalty on Girardi, no goal."

Or Option 4: Giardi illegally fouled Malkin from behind, while he had clear possession of the puck from the blueline in and denied him a scoring opportunity. That is the standard. The puck inconclusively went in before the net was off, but the league defers to the referee's call, which was a penalty shot. The foul, whatever you want to call it, was there. His intent was to force him down. He did not do so in the manner of a legal, typical, body check. Proper call.

[Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D]

Matt, u a A)pens fan or B)blueshirts?

Option A go whine on your own board
option B We won lets move on to sunday

[jason]

Sorry guys, but I'm with Matt on this one.

[Koz]

Is it possible to post a poll so everyone can just vote on the penalty shot theories? I think just about every argument has been made at this point.

[joeymole]

my initial feeling on the whole malkin incident was they would award a goal. puck seemed to go in with him and then net came off. granted, he forced henrik (with the puck) into the net but it all seemed to be a result of the push and his fall. however, looking at replay it seems malkin added some to the collision. the 'war room' must have picked up on this and i would agree and glad they did.

hey, what's with the pen trolls?! bad enough rangers and fans have to endure whining during game now we have to read and respond to it here, the truly remarkable and outstanding BLUESHIRT blog?!

sunday: one shift...one period....one game!!

LET'S GO RANGERS!!!

[CraigZ]

Enough already with the call/no call crap. we get it already. Another foul up by clueless referees. So what else is new. To my Penguin fan friends (I don't really have any) these things you cannot deny... Pitts tanked a whole season just to get Mario...Pitts couldn't give away tickets until the tanked three seasons to get Fleury/Malkin/ crysby/Staal/a new arena that is not in K C MO. Crysby does in fact whine and dive (he learned from the master Ms. Mario). And yes whoever said that this is not the NBA??? Buttman got his training as Stern's assistant in the NBA... Have a nice day...Z

[Matty]

* On our Boys:

I am so very proud of them. I was very happy that Jagr and Henrik were our best players on the ice, as we need them to be in order to win ... I never stopped believing in them and never will ... There are Penguins fans waving our win off as "We can't go 16-0" and saying that they will close things out on Sunday and that's that ... well that's fine ... we are still in a deep hole, but I still chose to 100% believe in MY team and I resent anyone telling me that I shouldn't.

Dubinsky is just following Jagr's lead, it is obvious how much he respects and looks up to Jagr and he and the rest of the team are just drawing inspiration from Jagr and using it to fuel them. Henrik was agressive and in charge and he needs to be this way again on Sunday because the Penguins are bound to be more energized at the beginning of that game. Chris Drury was just HEART! To play injured and play as well as he did was just amazing. Petr Prucha got better as the game went along and I am not surprised, he finally got some consistent minutes throughout the entire game ... Scott Gomez needs to be better, he was awesome in round 1 but he has yet to have a big impact in this series and we need him to be ...

* On Malkin's classlessness and Slew Foot and will the NHL do anything:

I was surprised and yet not to see what Malkin did at the end of the game. Mara was royally pissed off and speaking his mind, and predictably the Penguins coach quickly deflected the question and blamed it on emotion and then went on to whine about the PS thing ... I wasn't surprised to see Malkin do what he did because in 2006 at the Olympics he was suspended for 1 game for, I think, kicking a player or using his skate to do something illegal to another player ... it was a game that his team was losing and he was frustrated ...

On the NHL Network the host asked the analyst if he thought the NHL would suspend Malkin and the analyst goes:

"No, but he will most likely get a talk to from Campbell"

then the host shocked me by asking:

"Yeah, but what if this had been Sean Avery? Wouldn't the NHL Suspend him? Do you think there's a bias?"

and the analyst kinda nervously smiled and was taken aback by that question but then recovered and said:

"Well the thing is that Mara wasn't hurt on the play, being that it's the playoffs I don't really see a suspension but he will most defenitely be warned I would think"

The Slew Foot is all the talk in Canada, on NHL Live today, and in other hockey circles because people think it was a DIRTY play that could've severely injured Mara ... whenever you slew foot someone you are possibly putting their career in danger and I am glad that attention is being brought to this much like attention to Crosby's diving was brought to the fore-front.

In order for us to continue to chip away and hopefully force a game 6 on Monday we need to shut down Malkin more than Crosby ... of course the Penguins have other talented forwars but if their two best players are so frustrated that they resort to cheap shots or going after players for clean hits then we are doing a lot of things right and it gives us the chance that we need ...

* On the officiating:

It's not a conspiracy against the Rangers, Philly, or anyone -- it's officiating that has gone so far down the crapper that it is taking the fun out of the game. How is that not worth talking about? Ignore it and it will only come to be taken for granted. Show me another sport that tolerates anything more than the occasional error in officiating.

I 100% agree with this ... it is not about WHINNING about the officiating ... it is about the fact that *I* REFUSE to accept the crappy officiating that is happening in ALL series to ALL teams ... There is a two-ref system that is supposedly designed to cut down on the missed calls and/or phantom calls because the duo is supposed to work together and help each other ... that rarely happens ... sometimes the official with the really good look at the play calls nothing and is the far official who does and then the official who actually saw what happens keeps his trap shut then usually makes a make-up call later which pisses off the other team and it's fans .... This is supposed to be the BEST league in the world ... why should I have to settle for mediocrity when it comes to officiating? I don't, and I REFUSE to settle for it ... I will continue to call out the NHL on it until they fix it even if they never do ...

[RobZ]

"His intent was to force him down. He did not do so in the manner of a legal, typical, body check. Proper call."

Thank you Matt, that is by far the dumbest thing I have heard all day. I needed a good laugh. Breaking news!!!!!

Dan Girardi is playing the Incredible Hulk. Sources say this decision came from him having the ability to knock someone completely on his backside from a PUSH to the backside. More to come....

Seriously though Girardi disrupted Malkin by PUSHING him. How many times do we fall on our behinds from a push in the back? So wait thats a penalty shot? But when Dubinsky was going to the net Malone slashes his hands and no call and no slew foot discipline? That were one of the Rangers, they would have killed his family. Ridiculous! Next time We get pushed I want a penalty shot! That team is a bunch of slash artists and cry baby divers.

LETS GO RANGERS!!!!!! BRING IT BACK TO MSG!!!!!