About Last Night

Is no one going to say anything about the reffing? I’m not even talking about the obvious mis-call on the Carter penalty or the Carle “slash” or the Knuble “manslaughter.” All I’d ask for is consistency. And neither team is getting it. Hiding the refs’ obvious uncertainties on how to call a playoff game under the guise of “letting them play,” in light of the exact opposite style of officiating in Game 1, does have an effect on the outcome of the series. Which is exactly the opposite of what good officiating should be accomplishing. That shift in the first period where Crosby took out Lupul and then Carter tripped Letang would have resulted in two penalties in Game 1. After some confusing logic is communicated by Colin Campbell these are no longer penalties? Parent and Malkin don’t go off for Greco-Roman wrestling in Game 2 but Arron Asham gets two minutes for touch someone with his stick two nights before?

And now it’s your turn Simon…

20 shifts. Less than 20 minutes in total. That’s about how much Simon Gagne is asked to contribute on a nightly basis. Players like Darroll Powe bust their ass every single second they’re on the ice. They are the example that should be followed. When Scott Hartnell threw his stick (another missed call by the refs) it was a play born from effort. It was a misguided attempt, but he needed his stick to be somewhere he literally couldn’t get to even thought he was busting his balls trying. But Simon Gagne…not only did he fail to get something on the cross-ice pass to Bill Guerin on the Penguins first goal, but then look at this effort:

“Oh, wish I…could…get…it. Nope it’s in. Shoot.”

Scott Hartnell would have blocked that shot. Darroll Powe would have blocked that shot. Many of the Penguins block these types of shots on the rare occasion the Flyers are in their zone. These are the little things that matter. They don’t always end up reflected on the scoreboard, but you never know until it’s too late. In this case it would have mattered a lot. This is indicative of the effort that some guys on the team are just not willing to give. Which is why we’re down 2-0 in this series.