2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Ross Rhea said:

If there is no cross check Pavelski doesnt go off balance or leave his skates. Eakin started it and Stastny finished him off. The end result of the cross check was a head injury. 

Going in circles. To each their own here. 

If Pavelski gets up and walks away the actions of Eakin are never talked about again or even mentioned. A freak accident resulted after Eakin committed, at most, a minor penalty, and Eakin got dinged for it. Dumb call.  

Edited April 24, 2019 by Thorny

[Wyldnwoody44]

At least the way Colorado is playing.... And rested, I think they'll take it in 5. 6 Max

I hope Columbus takes it in the east now. 

I want Colorado to take the west. 

 

Also... The sabres are absolutley nowhere near this type of play and that makes me sad. 

[Ross Rhea]

5 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Going in circles. To each their own here. 

If Pavelski gets up and walks away the actions of Eakin are never talked about again or even mentioned. A freak accident resulted after Eakin committed, at most, a minor penalty, and Eakin got dinged for it. Dumb call.  

What was the end result of Eakins cross check?

[Thorner]

4 minutes ago, Ross Rhea said:

What was the end result of Eakins cross check?

I've already explained, it was the result of both the cross check (minor) and then also the contact from Stastny. Eakin is not responsible for Stastny's incidental contact. 

If you trip a player on a breakaway and he goes into the post and breaks his leg, it's not a major! You can't just look at the "end result". 

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by Thorny

[Thorner]

 

 

[Hoss]

6 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

What did he do wrong?

On another note, when President Buttigieg is incapacitated, the Secret Service is surely calling in Brad Stevens. #pete #dave #eviltwins

 

i discovered this today somehow

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

I've already explained, it was the result of both the cross check (minor) and then also the contact from Stastny. Eakin is not responsible for Stastny's incidental contact. 

If you trip a player on a breakaway and he goes into the post and breaks his leg, it's not a major! You can't just look at the "end result". 

 

That would be the point of contention. I personally don't think you write that off as incidental contact. Stastny hit him deliberately and it was unnecessary so you can argue who deserves the penalty if you want but it was a dirty play all around and deserved to be penalized.

Doesn't matter though, if you allow 4 goals on a 5 minute penalty your PK ain't worth s**t and you deserve to lose. 

Personally glad Vegas is out. Sick of them from last year already. 

Would be great if Carolina pulled the upset, but right now it looks like a Washington repeat to me. Long shot to Columbus. Boston can never beat the Caps for some reason. 

[Kruppstahl]

Just finished watching SJ vs. LV.

Holy crap; that 3rd period and OT was some of the best playoff hockey I've ever seen.

Pure drama and excitement.

 

 

[SabresBillsFan]

The officials blew that call big time. What a joke. They didn’t even have their arm up for any penalty and then they huddle up and give Eakin 5 minutes and a game. ***** pathetic. Pavelski was off balance and it was a freak accident. It’s hockey not ***** figure skating.

1 hour ago, Kruppstahl said:

Just finished watching SJ vs. LV.

Holy crap; that 3rd period and OT was some of the best playoff hockey I've ever seen.

Pure drama and excitement.

 

 

Great job by the ref to decide the series on a freak accident. At the most it should have been only 2 minutes.

[Sabre1974]

4 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

That would be the point of contention. I personally don't think you write that off as incidental contact. Stastny hit him deliberately and it was unnecessary so you can argue who deserves the penalty if you want but it was a dirty play all around and deserved to be penalized.

Doesn't matter though, if you allow 4 goals on a 5 minute penalty your PK ain't worth s**t and you deserve to lose. 

Personally glad Vegas is out. Sick of them from last year already. 

Would be great if Carolina pulled the upset, but right now it looks like a Washington repeat to me. Long shot to Columbus. Boston can never beat the Caps for some reason. 

Spot on, PK non existent on those 5 mins

[Kruppstahl]

3 hours ago, SabresBillsFan said:

The officials blew that call big time. What a joke. They didn’t even have their arm up for any penalty and then they huddle up and give Eakin 5 minutes and a game. ***** pathetic. Pavelski was off balance and it was a freak accident. It’s hockey not ***** figure skating.

Great job by the ref to decide the series on a freak accident. At the most it should have been only 2 minutes.

You sound like Gerard Gallant and the rest of Vegas, who were all blaming the call for the loss, instead of their collapse.

Anyway, I don't have a dog in that fight; the game was boring until the penalty was called and then became one of the wildest, most entertaining playoff games I've ever seen after it.

In that sense, I'm a huge fan of that bad call.

 

 

[Thwomp!]

That "hit" happens a hundred times in any NHL playoff game.

[Pimlach]

I looked at it closely.  Eakin with a blatant cross check, yes it’s s common hit, especially in playoffs.  Still the play was deserving of more than 2 minutes  

What made it worse was Stastny, who hits Pavelski while he is falling and drives him down hard on the shoulder and head  - although some of the second hit is inadvertent as Stanstny seemed to be clearing Pavelsky out of his way.    

Unfortunate play.  On the replay it looks like 2 min Eakins for crosscheck, and 2 minutes Stastny for interference or roughing.   Not sure if the ref looked at it again   Maybe you give Eakins 2 crosscheck  and 2 roughing ?   Five minutes and a game misconduct seemed like an easy call but not precisely correct.  

Either way the Knights are responsible for their loss, not the refs.   Four goals in five minutes is on them.   Fluery was terrible, flopping around on the ice.  

 

[Stoner]

Even the announcers say Eakins. Weird.

Can we agree the refs thought Pavelski was injured by the crosscheck?

[LGR4GM]

Maybe your pk shouldn't suck that much? 

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by LGR4GM

[Doohicksie]

7 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Also... The sabres are absolutley nowhere near this type of play and that makes me sad. 

I think the same thing, but then I also think, had they made the playoffs, they would, in fact, be playing at playoff intensity.  It's a long season but teams generally crank it to 11 once the playoffs come.

7 hours ago, Thorny said:

 

 

Hey Keith Olbermann, you misspelled "greatest collapse by a penalty kill unit."

[Assquatch]

Sportsnet 590 on Tunein Radio. I'd like to think I'm above this kind of thing but listening to them lighting Babcock and the Leafs in general on fire is bringing a little bit of joy to my day.

[LTS]

8 hours ago, skaught said:

I'm not arguing that the call was right, just that it's hockey, there's always bad calls, suck it up and kill the PK.

The bad calls usually don't result in an ejection and a 5 minute power play.  You have to PK, sure, but you there's no way you should be PK'ing a 5 minute call.  Would you tell the Saints to suck it up because the refs screwed up pass interference?

8 hours ago, Ross Rhea said:

If there is no cross check Pavelski doesnt go off balance or leave his skates. Eakin started it and Stastny finished him off. The end result of the cross check was a head injury. 

Rule 59 – Cross-checking

• 59.1 Cross-checking - The action of using the shaft of the stick between the two hands to forcefully check an opponent.
• 59.2 Minor Penalty - A minor penalty, at the discretion of the Referee based on the severity of the contact, shall be imposed on a player who “cross checks” an opponent.
• 59.3 Major Penalty - A major penalty, at the discretion of the Referee based on the severity of the contact, shall be imposed on a player who “cross checks” an opponent (see 59.5).
• 59.4 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent by cross-checking.
• 59.5 Game Misconduct Penalty - When a major penalty is assessed for cross-checking, an automatic game misconduct penalty shall be imposed on the offending player.
• 59.6 Fines and Suspensions - When a major penalty is imposed under this rule, an automatic fine of one hundred dollars ($100) shall also be imposed. If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by the Commissioner at his discretion (refer to Rule 28).

In order for the referees to be justified in calling a major penalty the penalty has to be a deliberate attempt to injure. (see: Kadri, Nazim).  In this case, the cross-check is not to the head.  The cross-check is a penalty.  The unintentional consequence is that Pavelski loses his balance and as Stastny is attempting to get to the point to cover his man he attempts to move Pavelski out of his way without knowing that he's off balance (not that I think it would matter).  Pavelski continues falling and due to the Stastny contact has less of a chance to brace himself.

The situation is made worse in that Pavelski is attempting to back out of the face-off circle in order to open a shooting lane.  As such, his weight is already moving in the direction he will fall.

The bottom line is that the referees did not even raise their arms when the actual infraction occurred.  As such, they did not believe a penalty had occurred.  They can talk to the linesman who may say there was a cross-check but there's no reasonable way they can infer there was an intent to injure on that play.

It's a bad call.  It puts the Knights in a bad situation. Yes, it happens, but it does not absolve the referees from creating the situation in the first place. 

The best you can get to is "If Cody Eakin does not cross-check Pavelski, then the referees can't make the bad call."  I'd go with that, but once that happened you are forced into what call is the right call.  Initially, the officials believe no call was the right call.  Pavelski did not get up, and the officials discussed the situation.  The problem is that the rule hurdle for assessing a match penalty is that there must have been a deliberate attempt to injure.  There clearly was no deliberate attempt and as such they cannot make a 5 minute major assessment.  

Cody Eakin creates the scenario by which the officials can make a bad call.

The official create the scenario by which the Knights can give up as many goals as SJ can score.

The Knights PK gives up the goals.

There are varying levels of blame there, but none of them are innocent and each are 100% guilty of creating the scenario that allowed for the next event probability.

---------------------

That said... I am tired today. That game was so damn compelling.  Ultimately I was glad SJ scored because Stone should have been whistled for a hook/trip in the neutral zone just before the goal was scored. I get not wanting to make a call, but that was an egregious penalty that Stone committed.

 

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

Even the announcers say Eakins. Weird.

Can we agree the refs thought Pavelski was injured by the crosscheck?

I'm just catching up on that incident. Bizarre.

I'm not sure how the refs can reasonably infer that Pavelski was injured by the crosscheck, as the crosschecking contact was modest (hence, no call in the moment) and he was clearly bleeding because some interior portion of his helmet cut his head (and, Lord, do those head wounds bleed).** It was as terrible a call in as big a moment as you could fear in the NHL SCP.

That said, the Vegas PK just melted down there. 

I'd venture: What was worse - the call or the PK performance? I'd say the latter.

** I reckon an argument could be made that he cut his head like that because he fell from a crosscheck. But, again, the crosschecking contact was not a problem when it occurred for the official closest to the incident. (See below)

Edited April 24, 2019 by That Aud Smell

[That Aud Smell]

[That Aud Smell]

To make matters worse, Knights coach Gerard Gallant said the refs explained to him on the ice that Eakin had checked Pavelski in the face, “and as we all saw, that didn’t happen.”

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

To make matters worse, Knights coach Gerard Gallant said the refs explained to him on the ice that Eakin had checked Pavelski in the face, “and as we all saw, that didn’t happen.”

Totally blown call.  But w/ that said, Gallant has to take the timeout at 3-2 to stop the bleeding.  Fans would've been building the volume, but his guys could've caught a breath and relaxed some.  Even the really good ones sometimes screw up in the heat of the moment.

[mjd1001]

7 hours ago, SabresBillsFan said:

The officials blew that call big time. What a joke. They didn’t even have their arm up for any penalty and then they huddle up and give Eakin 5 minutes and a game. ***** pathetic. Pavelski was off balance and it was a freak accident. It’s hockey not ***** figure skating.

Great job by the ref to decide the series on a freak accident. At the most it should have been only 2 minutes.

I wanted Vegas to win, and I think they did kinda get hosed on the call.

But, as I have read a few other places this morning in a message to all Vegas fans....."You got screwed by a call in the playoffs...Welcome to the NHL, you are now truly 'officaly' a member of the NHL."   

[LTS]

Really too good not to share this.

[Swedesessed]

Vegas whining about a bad call?

Sabres fans for almost 50 years: Hold my beers

Your franchise gets the tax breaks for the cap, a massive MASSIVE assist from the league to help springboard the building of a franchise that will have success for many years.

You had a 3-0 lead: Yes the call was bad but where oh WHERE is the PK?

I feel zero sympathy for Vegas as I wish the Sabres can fold,  come back as the Sabres, incorporate in Nevada, and have the league helps us like they helped their beloved Golden Knights.