Montreal Canadiens Pull Out Game 4 Win Despite Poor Officiating

Say what you will or believe what you may, Thursday night's victory at the Bell Centre for the home team didn't come easy.

Despite being down 2-1 early and having a slew of non-calls against them, the Canadiens found a way to win and the ghosts of the old Montreal Forum seemed to finally be settling into the Bell Centre just nicely.

It's not a conspiracy theory anymore, tonight's officiating was just an awful mockery of NHL officials.

As emphasized by Montreal Gazette beat writer Mike Boone, here are the top three picks for best non-call of the game:

Ruslan Fedotenko takes out PK Subban at the point which leads to a Maxime Talbot breakaway and a goal to tie the game.  No call.

Sidney Crosby trips up Roman Hamrlik on a Penguins power play that then lead to a Chris Kunitz goal to put the Penguins up 2-1. No call.

Mark Eaton almost takes off Andrei Kostitsyn's head and neck in the neutral zone with the puck far from Kostitsyn's stick. No call.

Crosby's stick breaks when battling with Hall Gill and as he beseeches the refs for a penalty, he gets his wish.

Good thing Christmas didn't come full circle in this game.

And just to state the fact a little louder, check out even Don Cherry, possibly one of the largest anti-Canadiens fans in the world calling out the officiating.

In the words of Mike Boone, "Talk about the seventh man, the Canadiens had to cope with Pittsburgh's seventh and eighth men – an ungainly clone of a Penguin in zebra stripes."

As bad as the officiating was tonight, the Canadiens battled through a tough game and no matter how much the officiating was off or on, the ghosts appeared tonight and at the right times.

Sources:

http://habsinsideout.com/boone/34407