I said it when Detroit beat New Jersey and I'll say it again tonight: The Red Wings caught a break.
Last Wednesday, Ilya Kovalchuk appeared to tie the game late. He was ruled to have pushed Jimmy Howard into the net with the puck, even though replay showed that not to be the case.
Tonight, the Senators appeared to tie the game with about eight minutes left when Chris Neil jammed the puck past Jimmy Howard. There'll be an uproar about this one and some of it is right.
Howard made an initial save and the puck was under him. Neil jumped in and knocked it loose and into the net. In the time that the puck was under Howard, the referee deemed play to be stopped but he didn't blow the whistle until after the puck was in the net.
It's an infamous "quick whistle" combined with the dreaded "intent to blow" rule.
From a technical standpoint, the call was the right one. The ref lost sight of the puck so he had to blow play dead. He was slow on the whistle so "intent to blow" comes into play.
The explained call was wrong, however. After replay - which shouldn't have mattered as the call was not reviewable - it was announced that the goal was called back because Howard was pushed into the net with the puck.
Much as in the New Jersey game, this simply did not happen.
Quick decision to stop play? Weak but explainable. "Intent to blow" rule? No one seems to like it but it's in play here. Goalie pushed into the net? Absolutely not the case.
The call that was explained was wrong and the call that appeared to actually be made was weak. The Wings lucked out.
The Red Wings return from the All-Star break tonight in Ottawa.
They'll get Danny Cleary back from his broken ankle but Pavel Datsyuk remains out, so Jan Mursak has been called back up to fill in. Tomas Holmstrom is also still on the mend.
Jimmy Howard gets the start, as would be expected with Joey MacDonald still backing him up.
The Senators are missing a bunch of people, including Jason Spezza. Rookie goalie Robin Lehner gets the start. Ottawa is coming off a loss in New Jersey last night.
All that combines to set up a game the Wings can easily overlook, so they have to be careful not to.
What the f*ck was that? Jimmy all over the damned place.
Way to stick with it, Mule!
And another one! Fantastic passing, excellent shot.
I don't even know who should have had him. This is gonna be one of *those* games.
Running around in circles. Kronner not paying attention.
What happened to FSD? It's all nice looking and there's no virtual ads.
To the dressing room. Regroup. That period was a mess but could have been worse.
What happened to FSD? It's all nice looking and there's no virtual ads.
No virtual ads in road games, I think. Something has to be set up in-arena for them.
Draper finishes! Another goal from not giving up on the play.
Quick goals again. Holy hell, this is a weird game. Kronner needed that after blowing the coverage earlier.
Who didn't see that coming?
Dammit Cleary!
Curly Fries from the Mule!
Put in Joey. Jesus f*cking Christ, Jimmy.
Mule loves the top of the net. Cleary should take lessons.
Holy f*ck, intent to blow saves the Wings two games in a row.
Five for the Mule and the Wings lead by two
I know that last one was just an empty netter, but holy eff 5 goals?!?!?! Wow, 5 goals by Franzen and 1 by Draper. This game made no sense.
Comment on this Article
You must be logged in to add your comment.