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Penguins and Flyers game full of goals and bad officiating

May 5, 2021, 9:22 AM ET [347 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
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The Penguins are back in first place after a bounce back 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. It was an offensive team effort




Fourteen out of the 18 Penguins skaters registered a point last night. I’m sure the message in the locker room was to respond after Monday and they did.

Evgeni Malkin had another two points so he now has three points in the two games since returning. Things are trending in the right direction and the last two games of the season will only help. The #1 power play also had another two goals. They were two for three last night. They had a power play goal the night before. I’m beginning to think the power play won’t be ruined because Evgeni Malkin is back on it.

The top line of Guentzel-Crosby-Rust hasn’t been operating at their best the past month. Last night was a step in the right direction, specifically for Sidney Crosby. Crosby scored twice and continues to torment the Philadelphia Flyers. Both goals displayed his talent in different ways. The first one was awareness to just get a stick on the puck and direct it towards the net




His second goal was the classic knee down one-timer he has made famous




It wasn’t all positive for Crosby and his line. Bryan Rust was taken down by Travis Konecny with what was in the neighborhood of a slew foot. Rust left the game for an extended period of time and returned to start the third period. On the surface him returning is good news, but then you remember the endless number of examples where Penguins players return to a game and then miss weeks of action




Here is the play in question




I don’t think it was necessarily an intentional slew foot but that isn’t going to help Bryan Rust’s leg. This play boiled over later in the game when Konecny and Crosby tangled up in the corner.




Let’s be honest the entire sequence is shit. From Konecny to Crosby to the official right there watching all of it unfold. People talk up these battles as “playoff hockey” and not the useless crap they are. The right way to handle this situation is to call holding immediately on Konecny with the official loudly communicating the call has already been made. Be very vocal to specifically let Crosby know the call has been made. Let Konecny know that if he doesn’t release and additional interference call is coming. That’s the solution. Then you don’t get Sidney Crosby doing what he did. Although, let’s be honest every player in the league saw how the NHL handled the Tom Wilson situation (ie they didn’t) so what is deterring them from taking things into their own hands? Crosby shouldn’t be doing what he did, but you can easily understand why he did given the Rust incident from earlier and how he's been treated his entire career. This falls on the officiating and the league. They have no regard for player safety with on-ice calls or supplemental discipline. We know neither care so the players are going to act out and behave like this.

The officials dropped the ball again later when they only gave Shayne Gostisbehere a minor penalty for his Dale Hunter impression. It was a gross play and completely unacceptable. In a well run league Gostisbehere would have been given a match penalty and an ejection with a looming suspension. It looks like the last part might actually happen, but he should have been tossed out of there. There is absolutely no place for what he did.







It also begs the question, what the hell did Mark Friedman do to his teammates when he was a Flyer? Earlier in the game he made a hit in the Penguins zone and Voracek came over and broke his stick over Friedman earning a penalty (although if the stick doesn’t break does the call get made?).





Anyways, Rangers and Capitals should be embarrassing tonight. I can’t think of too many positive outcomes given the lead up.

Thanks for reading!
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