How about that call on Sid for interference when he hardly checked a guy for charging and leaving his feet on a hit to a pens player. Why call the interference but not the guy who left his feet for a hit? This is how it has been all playoffs long. Not trying to be a homer but that was ridiculous.
- Zac_O

No ridiculous is game one in the corner when Syd gave about 5 or 6 crosschecks to someones back, with the "I'm irritated" look on his face

Still don't know how the Pens even got here with the injuries?
Amazing! I do have to give them credit.
With a completely restructured defense.

I do agree with the officiating. They're calling the light stuff and missed a ton of blatant calls. It's been bad both ways so I'm not going to say it's been a complete game changer
- drummer829

its been bad the entire playoff...honestly it's just bad all the time...

goalie int? please tell us and the refs what it is
cross checks, post whistle punches, spears, int...i guess that just playoff hockey
then they call the soft stuff...

bettmans nhl..you can shove it

"- I rarely agree with Mike Milbury… but his observations about the officiating so far are dead on target… the players don’t know what is a penalty and what is not… blatant offenses being let go, soft calls being made. It’s not tilted to one side or the other… it has just been inconsistent.… These officials want to do a great job, there is no question about that in my mind, however, they have to get it together, no one wants the story of the series to be the guys in stripes."

That ship sailed in Game 1 when this series was all but decided. And 5 calls in a row to the Pens in Game 2 just helped hammer it home...

Good luck next game. Go Preds!
- wolfhounds

when milbury is calling out the refs in prime time...well me does think there is a serious problem and there is...he was spot on with the examples he gave...

mcaully and ohallorhan have been horsehpoop the whole playoff

I recall a similar interference in game 1 with Crosby on their 5 on 3 that they DIDN'T call which lead to Malkins goal
- benderboots

Didn't fisher straight up run over a guy in front of the net with the puck no where close? Looked like an obvious call (Though they've been inconsistant). The supposed crosby interference atleast had the puck in the area a half second before.

Refs have been bad all around.

They let you guys take a complete run at murray with the puck no where close. Just a decision to turn close to the net and a little slip full plow of the goalie with no effort to avoid the contact. Granted they let crosby do a lesser run on rinne playing the puck 5-10 min later. Just very inconsistent.

when milbury is calling out the refs in prime time...well me does think there is a serious problem and there is...he was spot on with the examples he gave...

mcaully and ohallorhan have been horsehpoop the whole playoff
- bogiedoc

O' Halloran always is!

O' Halloran always is!
- predswilrule

THEY ALL ARE!!!!!

Can't blame a 3-goal loss on "puck luck." That just doesn't make sense. Preds fans have a reasonable gripe about the disallowed goal in Game 1. It changed the momentum of the game, and there legitimately could have been a different result.

But if you let that frustration roll into Game 2, then you start taking stupid offensive zone penalties and spend 25% of the game on the Penalty Kill. That absolutely destroys your line rotations, and forces you to play McLeod and Fiddler more often in the later stages of the game. All of the sudden, the effective style of play from the previous 5 periods goes out the window because your penalty killers need rest, and you have the 4th line out too much. Add that to Rinne's poor play, and you get shellacked, 4-1.

Rinne is better at handling point shots, even with traffic. High danger chances, bad angles, and tight plays give him trouble. He allows one soft goal is just about every game. The biggest disparity in this whole series is the goaltending. The Preds have carried the play better. The Penguins have capitalized on chances better. Officiating has been bad both ways. Special teams have been fairly pedestrian from both sides. Murray (except for the 3rd period in Game 1) has just been way better than Rinne. Do you go with Saros? The kid is talented, and could catch lightning in a bottle like Murray did last year.

I expect some changes from Laviolette for Saturday. Fiddler & McLeod should not skate again. If Wilson is healthy, Harry Z & Wilson could add some speed and punch. It's a hard call between Rinne & Saros. The Preds have been so high on Rinne lately, that pulling him might send the message to the room that you are giving up. But, Saros has to be a better option that Rinne has been the past 2 games, right?
- holycow_75

What's the reasonable gripe? His foot was in the air, so it's offsides.

No ridiculous is game one in the corner when Syd gave about 5 or 6 crosschecks to someones back, with the "I'm irritated" look on his face

Still don't know how the Pens even got here with the injuries?
Amazing! I do have to give them credit.
With a completely patchwork defense.
- puckhead17

Fixed that for you... our D is barely scraping by and we have Ron (frank)ing Hainsey leading our ToI most games X_X

What's the reasonable gripe? His foot was in the air, so it's offsides.
- Jackman

Can the offensive player enter the zone before the puck touches the ice in the offensive zone?

I do agree with the officiating. They're calling the light stuff and missed a ton of blatant calls. It's been bad both ways so I'm not going to say it's been a complete game changer
- drummer829

I truly feel for the player's on this. The officiating is called one way during the season another in the playoffs and now different in the final ?
Ridiculous !

What's the reasonable gripe? His foot was in the air, so it's offsides.
- Jackman

100% agree, my man

What's the reasonable gripe? His foot was in the air, so it's offsides.
- Jackman

Give me a break. You, nor anyone else, can definitively prove his foot was in the air and not touching the ice. The linesman 2 feet away thought he was onside. It may well have been offside, but there wasn't indisputable video evidence to overturn the call on the ice. What's done is done & the Preds have to live with it.

My point is really not to argue about the offsides. It's about Game 2. Maybe, just maybe, reasonable Preds fans could believe the first game turned on some bad luck and a questionable overturn of the call on the ice. But the second game had nothing to do with luck or bad officiating, as our esteemed blogger/announcer indicated in his post.

Give me a break. You, nor anyone else, can definitively prove his foot was in the air and not touching the ice. The linesman 2 feet away thought he was onside. It may well have been offside, but there wasn't indisputable video evidence to overturn the call on the ice. What's done is done & the Preds have to live with it.

My point is really not to argue about the offsides. It's about Game 2. Maybe, just maybe, reasonable Preds fans could believe the first game turned on some bad luck and a questionable overturn of the call on the ice. But the second game had nothing to do with luck or bad officiating, as our esteemed blogger/announcer indicated in his post.
- holycow_75

From the distant cameras, you could tell his first movement picked his foot up off the ice. Combine that with the up close to see he had already moved his foot by the time the puck crossed the line and it seems pretty obvious. I would actually argue the linesman two feet away had a tough vantage point because it's harder to look at two separate things when they're that close to you.

Can the offensive player enter the zone before the puck touches the ice in the offensive zone?
- Fangor1

The offensive player has to have his skate on or behind the blue line until the puck goes past the blue line, doesn't matter if the puck is in the air or on the ice. He didn't in this instance.

The offensive player has to have his skate on or behind the blue line until the puck goes past the blue line, doesn't matter if the puck is in the air or on the ice. He didn't in this instance.
- Jackman

So the puck can be in air over the line but the player's skate is required to be in contact with ice behind the blue line. Why the contradiction?
The purpose is to establish position in relation to a vertical plane. Right?

Can't blame a 3-goal loss on "puck luck." That just doesn't make sense. Preds fans have a reasonable gripe about the disallowed goal in Game 1. It changed the momentum of the game, and there legitimately could have been a different result.

But if you let that frustration roll into Game 2, then you start taking stupid offensive zone penalties and spend 25% of the game on the Penalty Kill. That absolutely destroys your line rotations, and forces you to play McLeod and Fiddler more often in the later stages of the game. All of the sudden, the effective style of play from the previous 5 periods goes out the window because your penalty killers need rest, and you have the 4th line out too much. Add that to Rinne's poor play, and you get shellacked, 4-1.

Rinne is better at handling point shots, even with traffic. High danger chances, bad angles, and tight plays give him trouble. He allows one soft goal is just about every game. The biggest disparity in this whole series is the goaltending. The Preds have carried the play better. The Penguins have capitalized on chances better. Officiating has been bad both ways. Special teams have been fairly pedestrian from both sides. Murray (except for the 3rd period in Game 1) has just been way better than Rinne. Do you go with Saros? The kid is talented, and could catch lightning in a bottle like Murray did last year.

I expect some changes from Laviolette for Saturday. Fiddler & McLeod should not skate again. If Wilson is healthy, Harry Z & Wilson could add some speed and punch. It's a hard call between Rinne & Saros. The Preds have been so high on Rinne lately, that pulling him might send the message to the room that you are giving up. But, Saros has to be a better option that Rinne has been the past 2 games, right?
- holycow_75

Could have been a worse result too.

So the puck can be in air over the line but the player's skate is required to be in contact with ice behind the blue line. Why the contradiction?
The purpose is to establish position in relation to a vertical plane. Right?
- Fangor1

The pucks position is not determined by contact with the ice but a players skate is... simply because thats what the rules are. It would open a myriad of more stupid incidents if they were the same.

The pucks position is not determined by contact with the ice but a players skate is... simply because thats what the rules are. It would open a myriad of more stupid incidents if they were the same.
- nelson911

I cannot see how it would not help the situation.
Much easier to see if body/skate is behind the vertical plane of the blueline when compared to looking at tip of blade contacting ice surface.

I cannot see how it would not help the situation.
Much easier to see if body/skate is behind the vertical plane of the blueline when compared to looking at tip of blade contacting ice surface.
- Fangor1

I'm guessing that the NHL will eventually move to this. I think it should be simplified and thus avoid speculation of skates on ice.

I've been reading the comments on nhl.com about PK's prediction, er... statement that the Preds will win game 3 on Saturday. The haters are frying him. I don't like haters (stayed away from the 'hate' word there), and Nashville loves PK. Why would any athlete envision a loss? They just don't do it, unless they're losers. PK, and the Preds, are NOT losers, and will fight to the last minute. Love our Preds, and really like the mostly insightful comments on this blog. Thanks, Paul!! GO PREDS!!

A Flyers fan crying about the refs......

In other news, water is wet
- cap1681

A Pens fans willfully ignorant of when the refs help them take a game and potentially a series...

This is me being surprised.

Tank More.

How about that call on Sid for interference when he hardly checked a guy for charging and leaving his feet on a hit to a pens player. Why call the interference but not the guy who left his feet for a hit? This is how it has been all playoffs long. Not trying to be a homer but that was ridiculous.
- Zac_O

Game was 4 to 1 when Crosby was called for his penalty (after he didn't get called for bumping Rinne...not the worst hit, but it could have been a penalty). Leaving the feet was bad, but we all know unless it's a headshot it probably wont get called. Regardless, the timing of calls (score, situation, etc.) has an impact.

I cannot see how it would not help the situation.
Much easier to see if body/skate is behind the vertical plane of the blueline when compared to looking at tip of blade contacting ice surface.
- Fangor1

It has to be a planar rule. Behind the blue or in front is the criteria, not on the ice and behind. At least as far as I understand the point of the rule.

Fixed that for you... our D is barely scraping by and we have Ron (frank)ing Hainsey leading our ToI most games X_X
- Guile

I think the injuries on the Penguins and Nashville even pretty much out though. That stupid 4th line of the Predators is taking many penalties and they wouldn't be playing if they had Johansen, Wilson and Fiala healthy.