Game 51: Tampa Bay at the New York Islanders
The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the New York Islanders 3-1.
Sigh....
Okay, before anyone goes off on the officiating, I'd like to go off on the players. I'm sure the fans aren't the only ones thinking that the officials have something against the Lightning. Most likely, the players do, too. So why in the world, if you think the refs are going to call any little thing against you, would you play sloppy? Because they did, and it cost them. Obviously.
I think the officials did a good job calling this game. Better than usual, anyway. The number of power plays were the same for both teams - they had six each. In total, the Lightning actually had one fewer penalty called on them then the Islanders. So much for the officials favoring one team over the other.
I'm not counting Lecavalier's fight in that at all, though. Someone really needed to step in and let the Islanders know that it's not okay to run the Tampa Bay goaltender. It probably should've been a defenseman, but whatever. Lecavalier stepped up and did the job, even though you could tell that his heart wasn't really in the fight. Still, you've really got to respect him for doing that, regardless.
(By the way - good job, Malone, for not getting any penalties!)
Speaking of the defense...why were they playing like Smith was behind them? Ramo wasn't at all prepared for that, and it showed. Not to demean Ramo or anything, but Smith is a bit more independent and is ready to deal with whatever comes his way. He's had to with the way this season has gone. Ramo seems like he's been playing with the defense on his AHL team instead of on his own. I don't know, but there was some kind of mental block going on there with the defense.
I'll give it to McKenna, though. He didn't look the least bit nervous in his first NHL action. And it looked pretty steady in net, for the most part. Although, if I were in his shoes, I would've been figuring that I couldn't do any worse than Ramo did - not that much of that was Ramo's fault. But even still, there really wasn't much pressure for McKenna. That's not a bad deal, if you think about it.
Actually, the most of the team had this mental block going on for most of the second period. Well, except for Lecavalier, who was trying to redeem himself from the penalty called on him that gave the Islanders their first goal of the game, which was a power play goal score on the Lecavalier penalty. Halpern and Meszaros also had a pretty good second period as well.
However, three goals in 3:25? And they cruised thru the rest of the second like they were ahead instead of being down three goals! There was absolutely no sense of urgency about them at all.
As usual, the third period was better. They finally played like they should've been all game long. Lecavalier, Halpern, and Meszaros dragged the team along with them through the second, so I wonder if any of them let them all have it during the second period intermission. Whoever it was that finally got them going, it came too late since the Islanders had the momentum.
Hopefully, they'll pull it together for the game in Pittsburgh.
4 comments:
I like your blog and have it in my rotation for reading Lightning news and takes. But I have to comment on this entry...
You say the officiating was great because the power plays were equal?
To me exactly equal PPs means even up calls galore.
There is so much more to the number of power plays each that can affect the outcome of a game. Like one of the teams gets 3 power plays in a row or get a back to back power play.
In fact the last power play that you say the Bolts got extra was a called with less than 20 seconds left in the game. It counts as a full chance but is really not one at all.
The one they called earlier on MSL for a minor crosscheck that happens all the time, called to negate a goal - that call has more of an impact than a tripping call midway through the first period.
And where is the Goalie interference call when they ran over Ramo? The bolts get called if their stick touches a goalies pad when he is out of the crease.
The officials have been jaded against the bolts for some time. in fact as far back as I can remember. But its no excuse - they need to play better against an isles team that is last in the standings.
Thanks for reading - I appreciate it. And feel free to comment whenever. Really, I don't expect everyone to agree with me. This is just my opinion, you know?
I think that the officials did a better job than usual - but not because of how many penalties were called. I just agreed with most of the calls made - they were pretty much legit. Often, it's like the officials make these calls seemingly out of thin air, but in this game that didn't appear to be the case.
I made the point about how many penalties were called in order to illustrate that the Lightning weren't getting picked on unfairly - that the penalty calling love was equally distributed among both teams.
You're right, tho - I totally agree that a penalty should've been called when they ran Ramo. But what can you do? To argue that call could backfire on a player and he ends up with unsportsmanlike or a misconduct. A lot of times, if the official doesn't see something with his own eyes, he's not going to call it - and that's how it should be, really.
Officiating for any sport must be one of the most thankless jobs on the planet. But I've been talking to other hockey fans, and they've been telling me the same exact thing - that officials are targeting THEIR team. So pretty much, it's the same everywhere. Sub-par and inconsistent officiating. Gotta love it.
To be honest I think the worst part of Hockey is the officiating. I think the NFL does a good job of being somewhat consistent in what they call. The NHL is all over the board and they seem to get so many calls wrong. It drives me crazy to see them call stuff in 1 period and then not call it on another. Or call it on one team and not on another.
And the video review is an absolute joke. I think we are about 2 for 20 if it goes to video review. I am not sure what feeds they get but they always see something that no one else does.
Its a great game but I was explaining hockey to a complete newbie and they were asking about penalties. So one was called and I explained the call, then there were like 3 non-calls. And he was like ok aren't those the same as they called earlier? All I could do is shrug my shoulders and say - you can never tell what they will call or when.
Not sure how they expect to grow the sport when you can't really explain the rules to people. It's crazy! Not really sure why I like it so much! lol.
Officiating in hockey is still a very old school, good ol' boys affair. Suspensions are a great example of that. There's absolutely no rhyme or reason to them at all, other than they like having the power to decide who to favor and who to punish. It should be all laid out clearly, and the same for everybody for every transgression.
High sticking calls are another great example of what's wrong with officiating. Why should drawing blood make the difference between a 2- or 4-minute penalty? A high stick is a high stick is a high stick, right? It should be the same regardless.
Actually, the video review - while it takes forever - is usually right. They rarely screw that up, according to the rules are set down for it. However, they strictly interpret those rules, but let everything else slide. There's just no consistency at all, and that hurts the credibility of the game.
The NHL could be run so much better on so many different levels. Officiating is just one aspect of the overall problem. These aren't businessmen, but rank amateurs playing at being serious businessmen. It's like they're all stuck in the 1950s when you could get away with doing things however you want to.
Now, you've got to have sound business, marketing, and finacial plans, and everything is spelled out clearly and has its place; but the NHL hasn't figured that out yet. And that's what the NFL and MLB both do best - and why they're so successful. And until the NHL follows suit, they will continue to be a niche sport here in the US.
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