Devils Fall to Montreal, I Lose My Mind on Officiating or Lack There Of Last Night
The previous
game, a 4-0 loss Washington, I described as unintelligent. Head coach
Brent Sutter ensured a more competitive match in the second half of a
back-to-back stretch, yet the Devils fell for the third straight game,
2-1 to Montreal, in front of a soldout raucous crowd of 21,273 at the Bell Centre.
Both teams worked hard in the first period,
with the Devils leading 13-8 in shots on goal. However, after 20 minutes
of action, the game remained scoreless.
At 4:14 of the second
period, Devils defenseman Mike Mottau committed a hooking infraction,
his second minor
of the contest, leading to the Canadiens No. 1-ranked power play. With
three seconds left on the power play, Mark Streit whacked a mid-air
rebound by goaltender Martin Brodeur. Saku Koivu and Alexei Kovalev
assisted on
Streit's 12th at 6:11.
However, the Devils tied the contest less than
eight minutes later.
Finally,
the Devils drew their first power play of the game, a slashing on
Christopher Higgins. That lasted 42 seconds before Zach Parise
inexplicably committed a hooking penalty, evening the sides at four
apiece.
In
an odd sequence of events and both teams skating 4-on-4, the Canadiens
skaters believed their netminder covered the puck. However, Brian
Gionta discovered the disc hiding adjacent to Price, easily backhanding
it into the empty net. Defensemen Mike Mottau and Colin White added
helpers on Gionta's 18th at 13:37. In fact, Gionta's tally snapped the
team's 133:23 scoreless streak dating back to Tuesday night. Yep, their
efforts beared no fruit in over two full contests worth of hockey.
Thank
goodness, the Devils killed off the remainder of Zach Parise's penalty,
and Bryce Salvador's holding bullshit later in the period that carried
over into the final frame. I understood the referee's call on Parise,
who slashed his opponent in center ice, but that whistle on Salvador
seemed like horse shit to me. This game decided first place in the
Eastern Conference. Why place it in the hands of the zebras rather than
the players' hands???
After two periods, the Devils led 23-16 in
shots on net, including one power play, yet scored once. That's
unacceptable. Alright, I won't rant that much because they just
finished a nine-game point streak, 7-0-2, but have since fallen off the
face of the earth. In the last three games, they've netted merely two
goals. They maintained plenty of chances in the Canadiens' zone on
Saturday but could not finish. And, to make matters worse, New Jersey
faced Price, a 20-year-old unproven rookie who started just his 29th
career game. Price earned his third straight win, advancing Montreal
into the Eastern Conference lead, one point ahead of New Jersey and
Ottawa, who defeated Pittsburgh 5-4 earlier in the day.
Back to
the third period. Uch........ The referees called another penalty on
New Jersey, a cross check on Mike Rupp, who aggressively shoved Andrei
Markov face first into the Habs' net. It reminded me of NBA refs who
ruin games by calling whimpy fouls and not letting the players compete.
It not only slows down the game, it also takes away the excitement.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy power plays, when there is a legitimate
penalty, not some questionable call. Coming into the game, both teams
completed 65 contests with 17 left on the schedule. Every game from
here on end is so crucial, especially considering that merely eight
points separate the first and eighth playoff seed in the conference.
Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record alluded to the questionable call on
Rupp as well as the Star Ledger via staff and wire reports, and, of
course, Gulitti's Fire and Ice blog,a must read for all Devils fans.
However, Montreal papers simply discussed
Price's effort and the Canadiens' 81-points, placing them in the
driver's seat past the All-Star Break for the first time since 1993,
also the last time the French-Canadiens celebrated the Cup.
Price made 31 saves, outdoing the legendary Brodeur, who stopped 23
shotsm aking his 25th consecutive start between the pipes. Sutter has
not handed over the reins to reserver netminder Kevin Weekes since Jan.
5.
Somehow,
the refs sent captain Jamie Langenbrunner to the box during Rupp's
penalty, giving Montreal a 5-on-3 for 1:31, more than enough time for
the Habs to capitalize. Langs barely touched the opposing player's
jersey, yet the ref raised his arm, as Devils head coach Brent Sutter
echoed, "What the fuck?" so loud I even felt his anger and disgust in
the states. I know that Devils fans who made the trip thought the exact
same thing.
But, the Devils penalty killers ensured that cheaters never prosper, until another fucking wraparound on Brodeur.
If
there's one move in hockey that every Devils player should memorize and
prevent, it's the fucking wraparound. It practically haunts me in my
sleep, watching Stephane Matteau in game 7 of the 1994 Eastern
Conference Finals. Fuck.
Okay. Andrei Kostitsyn pulled a Matteau and now the Habs led 2-1. Tomas Plekanec and Christopher Higgins assisted on Kostitsyn's 20th with 5:43 left in regulation.
But,
there is enough time to score again, especially since Mike Komisarek
committed a minor penalty 17 seconds after his Habs recaptured the
lead. But, New Jersey manufactured just one shot on the most important
power play of the game. Give credit to Price and the Habs' penalty
killers who fought off the Devils onslaught. But, I noticed Elias fall
in the offensive zone, something that's been plaguing the Devils since
the beginning of the season. And, let's not forget that Johnny Oduya
lost the puck at the blue line, essentially dampening the power play
chances.
In addition, Sutter altered the lines, moving Gionta
to the checking unit and replacing an injured Paul Martin with Karel
Rachunek in the lineup.
Another embarrassing moment occurred in
the final two minutes. The Devils could not move the puck out of their
defensive zone. They finally regrouped before Elias turned the puck
over and nearly cost his team any chance of earning at least one point.
But,
Gionta somehow handled the puck, blasting a slapshot on Price. After
Price covered, the officials blew a whistle, but replays indicated that
Komisarek cross checked Langenbrunner multiple times in front of Price.
Yet, Elias and Komisarek earned roughing penalties with 12 seconds left
in regulation. Sutter used his only timeout, but the Habs cleared and
earned a hard-fought win over the Devils, who owned the Habs on the
road since 2004.
After
securing nine straight wins over the Canadiens, including one earlier
this season, Brodeur lost for the second consecutive time to his
hometown rivals. (His parents raised him in Montreal, Quebec).
New Jersey stayed in Canada after the contest, visiting Toronto on Tuesday before hosting Tampa Bay on Friday night at the Prudential Center.
Montreal travels to San Jose for a Monday night faceoff before finishing the four-game Western Conference road trip at Phoenix, Los Angeles and Anaheim.
Alexei Kovalev's name deserves a nomination for comeback player of the year. After scoring 47 points and accumulating a -19 rating last season, Kovalev has also scored 68 and a +9, including a secondary assist in the Habs' first goal last night.New Jersey won the faceoff battle 29-24 and took more shots (32) on net than Montreal (25) although the referees assessed four more penalties to the Devils, including two in a 29-second span.
Afterwards, Sutter expressed his feelings towards the men in black and white.
"Both calls upset me," Sutter told reporters in the press conference. "The fact that the first call was called five seconds after the incident happens and because the fans yell. If it's a penalty, call it right away. And I just watched the video and I still don't know where the second call came from. To put a team down two men with seven minutes to go in a game like tonight, that's why I don't get paid the big money to be an official."
I wholeheartedly agree with Sutter's reaction to the contest. Although his team could not fucking score, the refs turned this contest into a non-contest. They eliminated several crucial minutes of even strength opportunities for both clubs, who threatened throughout the game. By eliminating the even strength play, the refs played right into the NHL league executives who passed resolutions to increase penalty calling this season.
After this
contest, the league will likely fine and reprimand Sutter for his
comments. Fuck them. I hope that team owner Jeff Vanderbeek picks up
the tab. Sutter expressed his honest opinion about the deterioration of
the quality of the referees in today's league. Sutter's comments also
opened up a pandora's box for coaches across the league to share their
views about the league in general. The game requires solid reffing and
officiating rather than questionable calls each and every night from a
plethora of the guys wearing black and white. Again, fuck them and fuck
Bettman. I hope he rarely sees a paycheck.
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