I'm not saying the outcome would've been different but that too many men was a huge swing. The Isles should've been on the PP, instead they are down a goal. Even if the Isles wouldn't score on that PP it puts Tampa on their heels. There is a good chance that it's 1-1 going into the 3rd and it's anyone's game.

That was an absolute disgrace. IMO there should be fines for something like that.
- JimmyP

It wasn't just that they missed the too many men call... one of the guys still on the ice was the 7th guy by the boards. He was who the guy who scored came on the ice for so it was very relevant to the play. if all those extra men were not within the play I wouldn't have cared as much, but they do this Join the rush early change thing that has to be called.

Barzal has to see that guy too... Leddy had Kucherov, Pulock had point, the Center has to get the next guy in the zone, not join Leddy covering Kucherov. (This is why Leo is on Barzal's line)

JGP didn’t play the last 13 minutes of the third. Has an issue and at 4-1 Barry had him rest it.
As I said he just didn’t look like himself this game.
- nyisles7

He looked so slow the whole game. I actually asked my buddy WTF is wrong with JGP. I hope it's not something that lingers b/c they need him full speed.

zajac looked pretty slow in this game too. I can't imagine he plays the next game, but I have been wrong before when guessing for Trots.

It's getting to the point that all penalties and non calls be reviewed because these refs are so incompetent. The refs should be held accountable as well. If they were a direct result of a team losing a game because of a blown call they should be fined and suspended for the remainder of the playoff the whole crew.

It wasn't just that they missed the too many men call... one of the guys still on the ice was the 7th guy by the boards. He was who the guy who scored came on the ice for so it was very relevant to the play. if all those extra men were not within the play I wouldn't have cared as much, but they do this Join the rush early change thing that has to be called.

Barzal has to see that guy too... Leddy had Kucherov, Pulock had point, the Center has to get the next guy in the zone, not join Leddy covering Kucherov. (This is why Leo is on Barzal's line)
- niteislander

The too many men play was bad, no doubt. It caused confusion for which man to pick up, which is why I believe Komarov was so late getting back. It was a terrible missed call that unquestionably became the turning point of the game.
The calls after that we're a combination of the Isles being undisciplined and the refs being marginal. They really made their own bed in the third period. The strategy of attempting long outlet passes all game put the defense in a tough spot when Tampa turned up their forecheck since the puck support wasn't there.
The Barzal goal to me highlighted why I wish Palmieri was on that line. Ebs takes the puck to the net and Palmieri is right there with him creating havoc in the crease creating the space for Barzy to hanmer the rebound. Komarov is often way behind those rushes making it easier for defenses to protect the high danger areas.
It won't change in game 3 of course.
I do think Zajac had a really bad game and should likely be a candidate to sit, though I could see Barry giving him one more start.

We missed a ton of close ones last night too... Beau on the 2-on-1 just missed, Dobson hit the Cross bar on that one rush, Incredible save by Vas on the first PP, Brock hit the cross bar at end of the second period.

feel like I missed a few Posts too.

The officials in that game should never be allowed to call another game until they go through intensive training. But, it's a culture of inconsistency that is tolerated by players, coaches, fans, and the league as whole. It's expected and people seem to be OK with that. The fans complain to high heaven, but then they go back and buy more tickets to watch games get decided by refs. If everyone stopped buying tickets and demanded that the officiating be professional, the league might take action. Don't hold your breath though.

Lightning "won" the game, but it's impossible to enjoy that fact as a Bolts fan because the refs decided it.

I mean, you can blatantly shove a guy into your own goalie and the shovee gets the penalty. I honestly don't think Point could have avoided that collision and I am glad Varly is OK. Point is not a dirty player and I really don't think he would have took a run at Varly intentionally.

And, 42 men on the ice for Palat's goal? I guess that was the "even upper" they gave the Bolts for the Point penalty. Here's a novel idea for the refs - how about calling the game according the book and do it evenly for both sides? I know that sounds like a radical idea, but MLB, NFL, and NBA manage to pull it off - or at least they do a better job on average. Not saying that umpires and refs in other sports don't make mistakes, but it certainly isn't a culture of tolerated failure like the NHL.

The too many men play was bad, no doubt. It caused confusion for which man to pick up, which is why I believe Komarov was so late getting back. It was a terrible missed call that unquestionably became the turning point of the game.
The calls after that we're a combination of the Isles being undisciplined and the refs being marginal. They really made their own bed in the third period. The strategy of attempting long outlet passes all game put the defense in a tough spot when Tampa turned up their forecheck since the puck support wasn't there.
The Barzal goal to me highlighted why I wish Palmieri was on that line. Ebs takes the puck to the net and Palmieri is right there with him creating havoc in the crease creating the space for Barzy to hanmer the rebound. Komarov is often way behind those rushes making it easier for defenses to protect the high danger areas.
It won't change in game 3 of course.
I do think Zajac had a really bad game and should likely be a candidate to sit, though I could see Barry giving him one more start.
- keaner17

There was one point last night where the Isles had a four on 2 and whoever it was passed it to Komarov (which Barzy just doesnt do anymore).. and the rush was over..

I'm not saying the outcome would've been different but that too many men was a huge swing. The Isles should've been on the PP, instead they are down a goal. Even if the Isles wouldn't score on that PP it puts Tampa on their heels. There is a good chance that it's 1-1 going into the 3rd and it's anyone's game.

That was an absolute disgrace. IMO there should be fines for something like that.
- JimmyP

I don’t disagree it’s just impossible to say how much impact it had and whether it changed the outcome. It very well could have. What I say to that is I didn’t like our teams response to that. They kind of imploded after that and a couple of bad calls. I would’ve rather they responded better then kind of folding imo.

The officials in that game should never be allowed to call another game until they go through intensive training. But, it's a culture of inconsistency that is tolerated by players, coaches, fans, and the league as whole. It's expected and people seem to be OK with that. The fans complain to high heaven, but then they go back and buy more tickets to watch games get decided by refs. If everyone stopped buying tickets and demanded that the officiating be professional, the league might take action. Don't hold your breath though.

Lightning "won" the game, but it's impossible to enjoy that fact as a Bolts fan because the refs decided it.

I mean, you can blatantly shove a guy into your own goalie and the shovee gets the penalty. I honestly don't think Point could have avoided that collision and I am glad Varly is OK. Point is not a dirty player and I really don't think he would have took a run at Varly intentionally.

And, 42 men on the ice for Palat's goal? I guess that was the "even upper" they gave the Bolts for the Point penalty. Here's a novel idea for the refs - how about calling the game according the book and do it evenly for both sides? I know that sounds like a radical idea, but MLB, NFL, and NBA manage to pull it off - or at least they do a better job on average. Not saying that umpires and refs in other sports don't make mistakes, but it certainly isn't a culture of tolerated failure like the NHL.
- GalacticStone

Too many men should be a reviewable infraction.
Game result aside that's a ref mistake that should not be allowed to stand.

Too many men should be a reviewable infraction.
Game result aside that's a ref mistake that should not be allowed to stand.
- keaner17

I honestly thought they shouldn’t have made that call on Point but let’s not make pretend he even thought of holding up the guy dropped his head. That play gets called pretty consistently. That too many men miss should have been a goal that never happened to begin with like an offside where as Tampa still had a chance of killing the penalty on Point no matter what you thought of the call. There is a difference and saying well you got that powerplay so we’re even is just a wee bit misguided imo.

I don’t disagree it’s just impossible to say how much impact it had and whether it changed the outcome. It very well could have. What I say to that is I didn’t like our teams response to that. They kind of imploded after that and a couple of bad calls. I would’ve rather they responded better then kind of folding imo.
- Cptmjl

Agree here, but the fact that we will never know (if the too many men impacted the outcome) is proof that the officiating is seriously broken. Can you imagine placing a bet on a game like this? What fool would put money on an NHL game when the refs randomly change the outcome? And I can't imagine how demoralizing it must be for the players on the ice - to pour out their hearts onto the ice and give it 110%, just to watch some striped clown cancel out your efforts?

That is one area where the Bolts have been tempered by past failures and it's an attribute that a championship team needs to have - the ability to shake off bullpoop like bad officiating and overcome it. The Bolts have learned to turtle up and let the officials beat the poop out of them until the refs tire out, and then come out swinging again. The Isles are being tempered here, just like the loss in last year's semi. It sucks, but it's part of the process in the NHL apparently. You have to overcome crap officiating and the Isles couldn't do it last night. They have two games on home ice to figure it out now.

I wish the sports media would run with this officiating issue and bring some unwanted attention to the league's training of it's officials. This poop needs to be fixed.

Agree here, but the fact that we will never know (if the too many men impacted the outcome) is proof that the officiating is seriously broken. Can you imagine placing a bet on a game like this? What fool would put money on an NHL game when the refs randomly change the outcome? And I can't imagine how demoralizing it must be for the players on the ice - to pour out their hearts onto the ice and give it 110%, just to watch some striped clown cancel out your efforts?

That is one area where the Bolts have been tempered by past failures and it's an attribute that a championship team needs to have - the ability to shake off bullpoop like bad officiating and overcome it. The Bolts have learned to turtle up and let the officials beat the poop out of them until the refs tire out, and then come out swinging again. The Isles are being tempered here, just like the loss in last year's semi. It sucks, but it's part of the process in the NHL apparently. You have to overcome crap officiating and the Isles couldn't do it last night. They have two games on home ice to figure it out now.

I wish the sports media would run with this officiating issue and bring some unwanted attention to the league's training of it's officials. This poop needs to be fixed.
- GalacticStone

The announcers were covering for the refs all game long. It was sickening.

A big part of the issue is hockey officials see themselves as part of the game instead of impartial arbitrators. They want to get involved and be part of the story.

Agree here, but the fact that we will never know (if the too many men impacted the outcome) is proof that the officiating is seriously broken. Can you imagine placing a bet on a game like this? What fool would put money on an NHL game when the refs randomly change the outcome? And I can't imagine how demoralizing it must be for the players on the ice - to pour out their hearts onto the ice and give it 110%, just to watch some striped clown cancel out your efforts?

That is one area where the Bolts have been tempered by past failures and it's an attribute that a championship team needs to have - the ability to shake off bullpoop like bad officiating and overcome it. The Bolts have learned to turtle up and let the officials beat the poop out of them until the refs tire out, and then come out swinging again. The Isles are being tempered here, just like the loss in last year's semi. It sucks, but it's part of the process in the NHL apparently. You have to overcome crap officiating and the Isles couldn't do it last night. They have two games on home ice to figure it out now.

I wish the sports media would run with this officiating issue and bring some unwanted attention to the league's training of it's officials. This poop needs to be fixed.
- GalacticStone

Nothing makes me more angry when the refs decide a hockey game or let a game get out of hand. The NHL should be ashamed and embarrassed with there pathetic officiating the Toronto war room and a goon running player safety. Are the games rigged or are these refs just that stupid and incompetent

On a separate note, the Isles pp needs to be better...still.
At this stage, I think the biggest problem is they are too slow in moving the puck. We all know they pass up on shots but a root cause is they are so slow in their decision making, defenses are able to recover and find their position. This of course causes more passing as they keep searching for time and space to get a shot off.
During our last pp last night, you could see how slow they were in moving the puck. Each player gets a pass and holds the puck for a good 4-5 seconds. The second the pp expired and Tampa's 5th player joined the zone the Isles practically doubled the pace of their puck movement, ringing a scoring chance off.

Simply put, there needs to be more urgency in that pp. Guys like Bailey amd Barzy are too patient, which often gets them in trouble, causing turnovers.

Nothing makes me more angry when the refs decide a hockey game or let a game get out of hand. The NHL should be ashamed and embarrassed with there pathetic officiating the Toronto war room and a goon running player safety. Are the games rigged or are these refs just that stupid and incompetent
- Hockeyislife

I don't think the games are straight up rigged. Too many people would be involved and people can't keep their mouth shut.

But, the end result is similar to rigging in the sense that the efforts of one team don't matter.

The problem is a gumbo of : poor training, poor leadership, and poor accountability. Look at the NHL's choice of people to run the officiating. It starts there and the rot spreads down the entire tree.

He looked so slow the whole game. I actually asked my buddy WTF is wrong with JGP. I hope it's not something that lingers b/c they need him full speed.
- niteislander

Howdy boys!
Rough game last night for sure and no, the refs didn't help things.
However, the Isles (to me at least) seemed tentative for much of the game.

The waves of forechecking in game 1 seemed to be non-existent for most of this game. In the 1st game, Isles brought the play to Tampa and in this game, they seemed to sit back for much of it. Continuing to play like that will only result in a series loss.

However, I trust Barry to right the ship.

On another topic of injuries, not only did i notice JGP's limited TOI last night but when he was out there, seemed totally unlike how he had been playing. Bringing me to the topic of Leddy. Although he had lots of ice time, he did not look like himself and has not for several games (going back to the Boston series).

I am wondering if he is nursing some injury that is not quite bad enough to keep him out of the lineup or cause Barry to drastically cut his TOI. Because he looks not right, slower than I can ever remember. He's still beating guys when he needs to but doesn't have that extra 1/2 step zip as usual when carrying the puck. Also seems to be passing fine but reluctant to actually wind up.

Wonder if it is some core injury, shoulder, core muscle pull or something like that. I can't ever remember a time where he so willingly refused to wind up, even on a PP.

I don't think the games are straight up rigged. Too many people would be involved and people can't keep their mouth shut.

But, the end result is similar to rigging in the sense that the efforts of one team don't matter.

The problem is a gumbo of : poor training, poor leadership, and poor accountability. Look at the NHL's choice of people to run the officiating. It starts there and the rot spreads down the entire tree.
- GalacticStone

I don’t think it’s rigged I think there are clear biases for some teams and not others. I also think the refs at times want people to pay attention to them and be the star so they dictate the game. Just like Koharski and Stewart did who actually blogs on here. Those guys were terrible imo. They thought people were coming to see them. Also, wtf is a make up call? Call penalties as you see them. That is it and that solves everything. Until they do that the nhl will always be considered a Bush league sport by most. It’s a joke.

Howdy boys!
Rough game last night for sure and no, the refs didn't help things.
However, the Isles (to me at least) seemed tentative for much of the game.

The waves of forechecking in game 1 seemed to be non-existent for most of this game. In the 1st game, Isles brought the play to Tampa and in this game, they seemed to sit back for much of it. Continuing to play like that will only result in a series loss.

However, I trust Barry to right the ship.

On another topic of injuries, not only did i notice JGP's limited TOI last night but when he was out there, seemed totally unlike how he had been playing. Bringing me to the topic of Leddy. Although he had lots of ice time, he did not look like himself and has not for several games (going back to the Boston series).

I am wondering if he is nursing some injury that is not quite bad enough to keep him out of the lineup or cause Barry to drastically cut his TOI. Because he looks not right, slower than I can ever remember. He's still beating guys when he needs to but doesn't have that extra 1/2 step zip as usual when carrying the puck. Also seems to be passing fine but reluctant to actually wind up.

Wonder if it is some core injury, shoulder, core muscle pull or something like that. I can't ever remember a time where he so willingly refused to wind up, even on a PP.
- savvyone-1

Agree with the bold I said the same exact thing in an earlier post.

I don't think the games are straight up rigged. Too many people would be involved and people can't keep their mouth shut.

But, the end result is similar to rigging in the sense that the efforts of one team don't matter.

The problem is a gumbo of : poor training, poor leadership, and poor accountability. Look at the NHL's choice of people to run the officiating. It starts there and the rot spreads down the entire tree.
- GalacticStone

I started following Hockey in the 81-82 season and it's been a joke since then until now. Nothing has changed. As soon as my team is eliminated I am done watching. Can care less. I used to watch when the Islanders were eliminated but not anymore. I am losing interest in hockey.

I don’t think it’s rigged I think there are clear biases for some teams and not others. I also think the refs at times want people to pay attention to them and be the star so they dictate the game. Just like Koharski and Stewart did who actually blogs on here. Those guys were terrible imo. They thought people were coming to see them. Also, wtf is a make up call? Call penalties as you see them. That is it and that solves everything. Until they do that the nhl will always be considered a Bush league sport by most. It’s a joke.
- Cptmjl

Islanders deserved to lose but the NHL has a clear Ref problem and they've had it for years.

I don’t think it’s rigged I think there are clear biases for some teams and not others. I also think the refs at times want people to pay attention to them and be the star so they dictate the game. Just like Koharski and Stewart did who actually blogs on here. Those guys were terrible imo. They thought people were coming to see them. Also, wtf is a make up call? Call penalties as you see them. That is it and that solves everything. Until they do that the nhl will always be considered a Bush league sport by most. It’s a joke.
- Cptmjl

If the refs let everything go the game will get out of hand and players will get hurt. If they call a game like last night then you see the result. Can only hope at this point that they call the game right and dont cost your team the game.

If the refs let everything go the game will get out of hand and players will get hurt. If they call a game like last night then you see the result. Can only hope at this point that they call the game right and dont cost your team the game.
- Hockeyislife

The islanders have to play better then they did last night and they’ll get the calls. That’s the NHL playoffs. Have to be able to overcome adversity. Play better and you’ll win more often then not.

Islanders deserved to lose but the NHL has a clear Ref problem and they've had it for years.
- ses111

I'm not saying that I disagree with u on this.. but when I watch other games that I don't care about the outcome as much I see much less "horrific calls".

The islanders have to play better then they did last night and they’ll get the calls. That’s the NHL playoffs. Have to be able to overcome adversity. Play better and you’ll win more often then not.
- Cptmjl

100%.. they knew what was coming in that game and really just didn't respond. Need to finish chances, play betting in D-zone and for the love of God stop icing the puck when u are out there on a long shift.