John Carlson had a bit of a rough night. Offensively he was his normal spectacular self, but in his own end he struggled more than an little...both on the William Karlsson goal that enabled the Knights to go into the first intermission tied, but also on the very important Ryan Reaves goal that tied it at 4...
And there is a ton of controversy surrounding the Reaves goal today because right before Reaves roofed it, he crosschecks John Carlson down in the crease....
This is Ryan Reaves here who, like Tom Wilson on Washington, plays with quite an edge. An edge that has led to a reputation and EVERY thing is magnified when you reach this level. It would have been easy to give Reaves a penalty and send the Caps back to a power play...A DEADLY power play that wasn't getting many chances yet in the game. A power play that John Carlson owns and at that point in the game one more power play goal would have maybe iced it.
And John Carlson is a highly intelligent player. Don't think for a second he didn't know all of this...and especially knew that Ryan Reaves was the one pushing on him from behind...He also surely saw the referee less than 10 feet away staring right at the battle.
And John Carlson isn't exactly fragile on his skates either. This is big man who has been in a more than a few net front battles.
I believe Carlson took a calculated gamble. Probably a smart one. He had just skated in front of Reaves, saw the pass from Nosek had essentially been blocked, felt the pressure of a crosscheck on his back...and went down...Was it a dive? Not really...but he helped it out. Was it a penalty? not in that position..for sure...
What Carlson didn't take into account is Reaves actually has some pretty good hands for a big man...and reflexes...Ryan took the puck on edge and buried it bar down...As Carlson picked himself off the ice he was looking directly at the referee...the one he was expecting some justice from...
Jonathan Marchessault didn't help this one out at all....he never saw it...However, he was the last man with the puck and was watching his pass. Tom Wilson is no saint, but in my opinion this hit was not only clean but exactly the kind of calling card the Caps want to send. The Knights are a great story and all, but Cinderella better skate with her head up and beware at all times. The Knights are too fast of a team to allow them to live without fear of contact... Chris Pronger would have been proud of Wilson's hit...It was exactly the kind of hit he would throw early in a series to set a tone...
We shouldn't be more excited to announce a few big additions to the hockeybuzz staff of bloggers today!
There are passionate fanbase and then there Islanders and Senators fans.....Both teams have had issues and both are facing HUGE decisions in the next few weeks. We want to be the place for you Sens and Isles fans to go each day....
First off, something old...
The Islanders may have a bit of an interesting off season around here... We are thrilled to announce the return of one of the top Islanders Writers and best "writers" in all of hockey. BD Gallof has returned to cover the NY Islanders and come back to the Islanders community he was such a huge part of building a all those years ago. I have been chomping at the bit to announce this, but wanted to wait until after Game 1 and after his first story has posted...
So please enjoy and join me in welcoming BD back. BD will also be joining us on the podcast from time to time...I am so psyched...
Covering the Ottawa Senators is Trevor Shackles..Like BD, Trevor is an incredible get for us as well.. Trevor brings with him great experience and perspective to another team that will have a crazy amount of news going on over the next few months.. Trevor already has a few articles in and he has completely impressed me and many others in the hockey world. You know someone is really solid when people at the NHL text to compliment you on your new writer!
Coming this week...An ex NHLer/Player Agent will be joining the staff and bringing with him some fascinating insights and a weekly motivational podcast which many have already become thoroughly addicted to...
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