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I often wonder how it is the NHL tolerates poorly it's poorly officiated games.
I'm not one to bitch and complain about bad penalty calls and superfluous B.S. inside games.
I always say that you have to play two opponents every game: the other team and the officials.
Score one more goal than the other team. That is the secret to success.
The game moves so fast these days that referees and linesmen cannot have their nose over the puck at all times.
I get it.
The only two types of calls that I want game officials to get correct are penalties and goals.
On Thursday night in Dallas, in the third period of a 4-3 games, the officiating crew literally blew calls that resulted in disallowed two goals.
Does this look like a good NHL goal to you? It does to me.
On this Samson Reinhart goal, the ref ruled that "there's inconclusive evidence that the puck crossed the goal line". The puck was IN the net. That was a goal.
Ok, so why did Kari Lehtonen kick the puck out of the net? The puck looks to me like it was behind the goal line.
I see a puck behind the goal line.
Samson Reinhart scored a goal. Or, so he thought.
Then, with just 11 seconds left in regulation, the Sabres appeared to scored the game tying goal. The TV replays showed the puck crossing the goal line.
I don't care what anyone says.
The Buffalo Sabres were screwed out of the goal that would have tied them with the Dallas Stars with 11 seconds remaining in regulation play on Thursday night. Zach Bogosian appeared to tie the game with 11 seconds remaining when he drove the net and made contact with the puck.
After the loss, Dan Bylsma vented his spleen on the terrible officiating.
"It's frustrating. The way the game was played out, the first two periods clearly we got outshot. They had the four power plays, which they took full advantage of with getting and dictating the pace of play in the game. And we find ourselves with a goal at the end of the second, right in a game, and we throw everything we can at them in the third period, and you feel like you know you got goals by the goalie and across the goal line, but you come up empty." -- Sabres coach Dan Bylsma
"You know you got goals by the goalie and across the goal line, but you come up empty."
Shame on the Sabres. They started fast , built a 2-0 lead on just five shots on goal, forced Lindy Ruff to bench Antii Niemi after twenty minutes of play, then fell asleep at the wheel in the second period. For some untold reason, the Sabres felt full then backed away from the All you can eat goal scoring buffet. Buffalo mustered only four shots on an ice cold, unsure Lehtonen in the second period.
Anders Nilsson chose the wrong night deliver his poorest performance of the season.
Nilsson and the Sabres grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory.
Patrick Sharp scored twice and Lehtonen made 21 saves in relief to help the falling Stars defeat the surging Sabres.
Lehtonen, who replaced Antti Niemi to start the second period, made 16 saves in the third.
Lehtonen was told at the end of the first period that he'd be going in after Niemi allowed two goals on five shots, and he said that benefited him after he dealt with dehydration issues at practice earlier this week.
On the glass half full view, Evander Kane scored two unassisted goal in Dallas, his13th and 14th goals of the season. Kane now has 14 goals, 13 at even strength, in his last 25 games since December 3.
I've been telling you for the past three months that Kane is in hot demand right now. The Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames are a few of the teams that have expressed interest in Kane.
Why would Tim Murray trade his power forward and hottest scorer right now?
Because Tim Murray can fill his top four defenseman of need that he has been chasing all season long. Ask your self if the Sabres would have won the Dallas game had they had Jake Muzzin, Shea Theodore or Dougie Hamilton in the ice in the second period against the Stars. The answer is definitely yes. Playing Cody Franson, Taylor Fedun and Justin Falk in critical moments un games is a risky proposition. Dan Bylsma needs and has needed another shut down D who can activate and join the rush. LA and Anaheim need even strength scoring. Calgary desperately needs a body guard and playmaker for Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monaghan and Sam Bennett.
Trade Kane now. Not because he isn't playing well but because his value has never been higher.
Justin Bailey has 17 goals in AHL Rochester and can play the fast, north, scoring role that Kane is presently playing. Buffalo has depth at left wing with Bailey and Alex Nylander maturing in the incubator. What they need now is another dynamic defender. Brendan Guhle will be a Sabre next season. Tim Murray needs a legit Top 4 now.
Tim Murray is a Matt Duchene fan. Trading Kane for Duchene makes great business sense. Duchene is a scoring left winger who needs a new mailing address. Duchene is a $6M AAV.
Trading Kane now will also open up $5.25M AAV that Murray can use to fortify his RFAs this summer.
**
Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving has been waiting patiently for his team to show some passion.
The Flames are free falling down the Western Conference standings and are giving up games without fights.
The flickering Flames have been outscored 20-7 in their last four games and have trailed 4-0 in all four games.
After his team got whacked 4-cob in Toronto on Tuesday night, Treliving called out the character of his collective team. In not so many words, Treliving called his team soft and weak.
“It’s not a system or structure thing – it’s a sweat thing. It’s an emotion thing. It’s a push-through thing,” said Treliving to the Calgary Herald.
“We’ve got to get to a point where the players say, ‘enough is enough’ and have the will and push-back to stop it. This group has shown this year it’s capable of playing at a certain level, but it starts with the right attitude. We have to get our minds and attitude right that (tonight) night (in Ottawa) this stops. There’s no magic formula. You don’t click your heels and get 20 new players.”
Treliving has been looking outside his organization for players whose "give-a-sh*t-meters" run high. He hasn't had any luck making trades for those players that he has identified as talented and nasty.
Yet.
No. Treliving isn't so blinded by rage and fury that he will be trading Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan or Dougie Hamilton. Sam Bennett though?
Maybe.
“The job, especially in times likes this, is to help your team, so absolutely I’d like to do something and we’re continuing to look at things every day."
“It’s great to say ‘shake it up’ but sometimes that’s not realistic. We stare at the other 29 teams and you need a dance partner and need to find a fit. Hey, we can go make a deal tomorrow to put a different nameplate on the jersey but does it help us 100 percent? That opportunity hasn’t presented itself. It’s not an excuse. You’ve got to find money that fits too. We haven’t found that fit yet. That’s not to say we won’t.”
The Flames have been an up and down unit all season long. They are a Jeckyl and Hyde team.
Losers of six of their last seven games, the Flames were jumped over in the standings by the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night, The surging Nucks dropped the tanking Avalanche. Now the Flames have lost hold of their wild card berth. Calgary finds itself skating with cinder blocks on it's collective feet. They can't get out of heir own way and are being messed with by Western foes.
Cue the Tom Petty.
Free Fallin'...
“That part is enough to say, ‘we’re in this – these games are relevant,’”
“The silver lining in it all is we shouldn’t be lying in the fetal position, worrying that life as we know it is over. You can’t sit here and suck your thumb. This is when the people who were cheering and praising you are hucking rocks at you. How are your going to deal with it?”
Treliving isn't asking for miracles. He just wants an honest day's work for an honest day's pay from all of his players. Not just some of them.
“The area that’s got to improve is our push-back. What’s crept in is a little acceptance. You can’t have that.”
Treliving is in the last year of his contract and has not been offered an extension. He's not going down without a fight. He wants his players to man up and stop feeling sorry for themselves.
“Emotion is a big part of our game – having it and being able to control it is very important,” said Treliving who said his team has been complete and utter “horse sh*t” during this losing skid.
“You can’t have success without emotion. The coach is a highly competitive guy and very even-keeled and I think he got to a point where he spoke from the heart and his message, above all else, is ‘enough is enough’ and ‘we have to get going.’”
“Frustration you hear a lot when you don’t have the success you want, but I always believe frustration is a wasted emotion,” said Treliving. “What do you do when you’re frustrated? You hang your lip and kick the dog. To me you should be looking inward at, ‘what can I do.’ This is where you need leadership and it starts with me. Nobody should be reading us our last rites.”
***
The Los Angeles Kings have been skating in the Eastern time zone this week.
The Kings now trail the Edmonton Oilers by 12 points for the third seed in the Pacific Division.
The Kings (50 points) enter tonight's action in 10th place in the West, just two points ahead of Dallas (48) and Winnipeg (48).
The Kings lost to Brooklyn on Saturday night. They also lost to the Rangers on Monday night but beat the Devils on Tuesday night.
Tonight the Kings play in Raleigh.
The Buffalo Sabres are among the teams scouting the Kings @ Canes.
Why exactly?
The Kings have been frequent flyers to Buffalo this season. The last time I saw this many LA scouts in Buffalo was when Robyn Regehr was traded to LA. Seemingly, every Sabres game was attended by a Kings scout back then. I see a similar pattern with this season. The Kings continue to scout the Sabres routinely.
For the past couple of months Tim Murray has been keeping a close eye two LA defenders. Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez. Muzzin is a left shot D.
I've been telling you for some time that the Kings have had their eye on Evander Kane.
Murray needs another top four D to bolster his blue line. Buffalo are 7-3-1 in their last 11 games and feel like they can grab a wild card berth. Adding Muzzin or Martinez would add immediate credibility and stabilization to a Buffalo D corps that is lacking left-handed depth. on Saturday night in Montreal, Dan Bylsma was forced to have to play five right shot D with one left shot D. The reason for it was the shoulder injury to left shot, top pair D Jake McCabe, who will be out of commission for another two weeks. Dmitry Kulikov, a lefty, returned to the lineup in Nashville on Tuesday night after an 11 game layoff due to recurring a back injury. There is no guarantee that Kulikov's back will hold up under the rigors in the second half of the season. Josh Gorges, a lefty, has been sidelined with an abdomen/hip injury and there is no timetable for his return to work.
Dean Lombardi desperately needs a 5v5 scorer who can play hard, meaningful minutes and contribute on the PP. Eleven of Kane's twelve goals have come at even strength this season.
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