The Washington Capitals’ overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres last night cannot be tacked to one cause. The Sabres are, and played like, a team desperate for two points to keep their playoff hopes, however slim, alive. The Capitals were at times dominant, and at other times completely unfocused.
An undeniable factor in the game was shoddy officiating. That’s not to say the Capitals were targeted unfairly — after all, the Caps’ seven powerplay chances (including a couple 5-on-3s) gave them ample opportunity to put the game out of reach. And the questionable calls against Sergei Fedorov simply got him angry, leading to two goals. Perhaps Feds is the one who should have The Hulk as his cartoon rather than Green?
But it was a single call, or non-call actually, that led to Buffalo’s game-winning goal. And for a change the referees aren’t to blame, but rather the linesmen.
My friend Todd made a sharp-eyed observation in the seconds before the game’s end. He later confirmed his suspicion, and mine, by reviewing the play from home:
Note the puck clearly crossed the blue line before Pominville’s teammate cleared the Caps’ zone — yet the linesman remained silent. And yes, it’s a fast game, and I’m sure it was a fraction of a second offside… yet making those distinctions is an official’s job. For this call, and in this game, the officials simply did a bad job.
Again, the Capitals had the talent, and the chances, to put the game away and take the contest out of the officials’ hands. Sadly, the Caps did not do so, and this clear failure on the linesman’s part awarded the Sabres an extra point rather than letting one team decide the contest within the rules.
9 Comments
You know, it may be a split-second call that he didn’t make, but the linesman sure did make a few offsides calls that were pretty much non-sensical last night too. When this one is a little more obvious and not so flimsy like many of the calls were last night, you’d think they’d call it.
Yeah, the refs weren’t bad, but the linesmen were horrible last night. Don’t forget the 2 times they called offsides on the Caps when the puck hadn’t come close to exiting the zone- one cost Semin a 1 on 0.
Actually, this is a correct call. It is a delayed offsides. The puck is not clearly in Connelly’s possession while over the blue line. He is a good few feet away from the puck and not on the blade of his stick. Connelly is not carrying the puck, nor is he making a pass across the blue line to Pominville. Therefore it is considered the same as a dump in and Pominville is correctly given a chance to clear the zone. NHL Rule 83.3
As Tom said, Connelly poked the puck across the the blueline but didn’t have possession of it. Pominville cleared the zone just as Connelly entered the zone and got possession. It was the correct call. However, there were several calls in that game that were bad going both ways.
You don’t have to have be in posession of the puck for the delayed offside to be called. Here’s the exact wording of Rule 83.3:
“If the attacking team does not clear the attacking zone, play shall be stopped for the off-side violation if any attacking player touches the puck, or attempts to gain possession of a loose puck while the puck is still in the attacking zone, or forces the defending puck carrier further back into the attacking zone, or who is about to make physical contact with the defending puck carrier.”
The pertinent part of the rule deals with attempting to gain possession of a loose puck while the puck is still in the attacking zone. If you check the video, that’s exactly what Connelly was doing while Pommenville was still in an offsides position. The linesman should have blown the play dead immediately.
Offside calls had been screwed up the whole night. Both for and against both teams. While it may have led to a goal in this case, there were others earlier in the night which did make a difference as well in terms of goals.
And yet the game was tied at the end of regulation.
What led to the Sabres win was the Caps scoring more goals FOR the Sabres than the Sabres themselves did.
the video (which i just watched) is much more telling than the still picture and i see it as the right call. yes, the puck was over the line slightly before the sabres player cleared he zone, but he certainly cleared the zone before his teammate was in the zone playing the puck. the linesmen got it right.
When this one is a little more obvious and not so flimsy like many of the calls were last night.
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Ok, I think you really need to stop whining about calls. NHL officials get them right the overwhelming majority of the time. I think they got this one right too, as others have pointed out. I’ve also met a few officials, and never once did I meet one who was not trying to be the best he could be, every single time on the ice. Do they blow some? Absolutely. But the error rate is tiny based on the number, speed, and complexity of the calls they make. And although every fan in the NHL believes their team is always getting screwed, there is no bias for one team versus another.
Also, the NHL has it right on using replay to get the most critical calls (goal or no goal) right. Yesterday against the Thrashers was case in point. On Aucoin’s shot, the goal judge got fooled and hit the light briefly. He, and 18,000 fans that day WANTED it to be a goal. The ref (Marouelli) was in precisely the correct position to see it, and calmly and quickly waved it off. Then they had the wisdom to use the replay to verify the call (after all, 18,000 fans were just sure that puck was in….) and the replay took about 5 seconds to confirm his call. This happens day in and day out.
Whining about calls is for losers. Last time I checked the Caps weren’t thinking like losers any more.
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