Last night, the Boston Bruins came out grabbing and groping like pimple-faced boys at a high school dance.
They played hard, desperate hockey and dominated most of the 1st and 3rd periods. They out-shot and out-hit a tired-looking Montreal squad that seemed to have trouble keeping up.
The Bruins brought their "A" game (and then some) to the Bell Centre, fought tooth and nail for a "W" but... they still lost.
Playoff hockey can be cruel and unfair. Referees are required to make split-second calls at emotional times during a game. Which bench you're standing behind will determine whether you think those calls are good or bad. Sometimes the better team wins and sometimes it doesn't. Last night, the Boston Bruins were the better team.
I know this might sound strange coming from a Habs fan, but I've always prided myself on telling it like it is. If the Habs play a great game, I'll say so. Last night they slipped back into one of their regular season performances - undisciplined and sloppy.
The Habs gained some momentum in the 2nd period after a late 1st period goal by Roman Hamrlik, but the Bruins kept coming and even after being down by two in the third, tied it up to force overtime.
Alex Kovalev, who was not having a good night, finally found his game and potted the OT winner. He later admitted that last night's victory was due to "lucky bounces" and that the Habs have to play more disciplined hockey.
Claude Julien, in an emotionally controlled post-game press conference, claimed that the tripping penalty to Jeremy Reich robbed his team of a potential win. He wondered why Markov wasn't called for high sticking seconds before.
I say you can play the "blame game" till the cows come home but in the end, it's just that ugly monster called "Playoff Hockey", claiming yet another victim.
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2 months ago
did he even see what happened to Plekanec who got a cross-checking in the third period ? no call was on the play and the bruins kept coming in the zone . I mean ... there have been a lot of no-called penalties for the Habs as well.
but it sure must be frustrating for julien right now ...
I agree it wasn't the Habs best game yesterday, but I guess that is how we have to recognize that they are a great team. they made a lot of stupid mistakes, but they did not give up and finally they redeem themselves .
2 months ago
I don't know about you,but at yesterday's game it was bad officiating. But if you want to talk about bad calls you should talk about referee Mick McGeough.
2 months ago
I agree, last night was a perfect example of one sided officiating, ...at first it looked like the refs were on the Bruins' payroll and perhaps guilt kicked in at the end and the refs started calling bad penalties against Boston..... it's a delicate balance and they still have to work on it, I would not want to be in their shoes though
I'm happy the Habs won, but don't kid yourselves, they stole that one because of Price and questionable calls
2 months ago
I thought Julien did a good job of handling the situation in the post-game press conference. He didn't seem over the top and didn't "rage" too hard at the officiating. I didn't see much of the blame game going on. He's a class-act, Julien, and his team played one helluva' game. If Price hadn't been playing as well as he was, this series would be tied one apiece.
2 months ago
For the record, I hate the Bruins. I hate the Canadiens. So I'm a good judge here. The last 5 minutes of regulation and the entire overtime was played with the Bruins at least one, sometimes two men down. the "tripping" call in overtime was inexcusable, it was a dive, and the type of call that's not made in overtime (and wasn't made a few seconds earlier with a questionable high-stick that was ignored).
The game was completely rigged at the end. If it were the NBA, we'd be questioning whether or not the officials had money on the game. Since it's the NHL and in Montreal, we'll just setting on the officials being incompetent boobs that were caught up in the crowd reaction and should never, ever officiate a playoff game again.
2 months ago
good points Sean
i think the crowd did sway the ref's call
I agree if they're gonna call penalties in OT, they better be damn sure, cause it could cost a team the series
2 months ago
Another example of a BAD call! Maybe two, three. The refs (jerks) were totally intimidated by the crowed, nothing new!!
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