Washington Capitals (W) at Montreal Canadiens (M)
Montreal 4 – Washington 1
04/26/2010, Versus feed
Referees: #9 Dan O’Rourke and #20 Tim Peel
Note: Because I highly suspect there are some cumulative calls in this game, I’m going to transcribe my notes as directly as I can and not editorialize about them until those calls happen. Some of the verbatim notes are quite amusing in hindsight.
First Period
20:00 – 20 drops puck
19:52 – 20 nearly really odd player int as they scatter off the face off. A player cuts behind him and he’s forced to jump a pass. No ding, but odd looking
19:46 – minor PWS after M player loses edge with no one near him. Oh dear.
18:46 – 20 very aggressive about breaking up a PWS.
17:52 – both teams get away with a chaos-inducing cheat change, both could have been busted for TMM
16:31 – linesman break up M40 trying to start something with W26, M40 with ****-eating grin afterwards
15:31 – 20 ignore 50 interference/pick W in defensive zone slot
13:45 – 20 ignore 40 hook W19 on hands
12:54 – 20 calls 65 cross check W26 – long delay before W gets control, he cross checked guy who had already fallen and was kneeling on the back of the net – not particularly hard but exceedingly obvious and useless. 9 takes zone.
12:30 – M13 power play goal. 1-0 Montreal
11:10 – puck off linesman calls all sorts of confusion
10:51 – M13 even strength goal from the point, 2-0 Montreal. Weak from W goalie
10:02 – 9 good non call on M40 falling in clean puck battle on wall. Call seeking, bad daytime soap on theEasy scale
8:36 – 20 bad position, has to turn back to escape and nearly interferes with player
8:30 – 20 calls W52 60 elbow – made a bigger noise than actual impact on player, but arms were up. Not a great angle to see amount of impact. 20 takes zone
7:51 – 9 ignores 55 hook/slash M twice on W cycle
7:20 – puck off linesman skate again causes turnover
6:50 – 9 (trail) call 80 hold (hook) on M15, slight lock by W player arm (30 embellish) but really, really obvious from back angle
6:04 – M44 100 delay of game, shoots puck over glass, 9 and linesman have the call. 9 remains in zone
4:38 – Both ignore 65 slash M75 (I think) in neutral zone that prevents break in and 9 misses a possible control call as M15 initiates yet another PWS
2:36 – four person joust in front of M net
1:15 – 9 ignore 65 dive M40, clamps arm on stick and fall wanting a hooking call along the wall – slightly better daytime soap
0:55 – 9 ignore 50 trip W21 in crease, M40 50 embellish – W21 has his stick down trying to hold M40’s stick close to his body, M40 skates forward and flails forward, kicking his back feet up to fall. Still soaps, but 9 looks like he’s yelling something at M40 from the side of the net
0:00 – minor scrum with no indication of who started it, OC-NR
Period Recap:
Physical play in front of the net noticeably picks up at the end of the period. M40 is all about the call seeking and starting to irk me, but at least no one’s biting. 9 makes a few odd positioning decisions thinking he can skate out of it and is pretty successful. Lots of stick on stick, getting pretty high at times. This game is ripe for a dangerous high stick.
20:00 – 9 drops puck
19:42 – 20 ignores 60 cross check M42, same type of useless crosscheck as called earlier except is on wall
18:12 – 9 (trail) calls M20 80 hold on W8, had one hand on each side of W8’s hips to try and steer him to wall and as he came off of it., 9 takes zone
16:59 – 9 says puck out of play, Caps disagree, no replay. Didn’t look out of play but very hard to tell. No ding.
16:00 – 9 good no call on W22 incidental contact outside of crease with M goalie – would likely have been a waived off goal but not intentional so no penalty. – 9 also has player interference on M in corner on a bad read
14:14 – 9 (trail) calls M40 80 (95 on replay) dive – flings self forward Muppet-style at mild contact from behind by W52 on battle for puck in corner. 30 interference because of puck battle in immediate vicinity. Give this man an acting award as both arms come up to splat himself against the glass. 20 was right there and called nothing, but 9 has had enough I think, and M40’s been asking for it. 9 takes zone.
12:56 – 20 (trail but best sight line) ignore 90 slash M79 on pk, breaks W8 stick on wall. As obvious as they come.
**please comment about this, 12:31 – 9 ignores 95 trip M75 on W8 breakaway – I may not ding for this if you guys disagree with my interpretation of this scenario. W8 is on a pp breakaway and gets a decent shot off. However, M75 does the “last ditch dive and poke-check attempt” where he gets all of W8’s feet and none of the puck because the shot is being taken either a beat before or simultaneously. Trip definitely affects follow through but very arguable if it affects quality of the chance. Puck is frozen by M goalie. It’s obviously a trip (and I don’t feel it fits the definition of “accidental” since this particular last-ditch play has known high risk of trip, but since it happened simultaneously with the stoppage of play, I don’t know what to do with it. I’ll grade as no ding but let me know your opinion Phew.
10:26 – 9 ignores 60 hook M32
8:58 – 9 calls 70 trip W52 – used leg to keep M14 from getting to corner
8:27 – 9 sloooow freeze whistle leads to major PWS, does not call possible control 80 rough W21, 60 rough M13, W18
5:33 – 20 ignores 60 hook W on M79 as he’s coming around his own net
4:43 – 20 player interference with W77 at edge of trapezoid
1:59 – both ignore 65 hook, 75 interference M75 (I think – too many M7x defensemen), hook forces turnover, then catches him and knocks down pursuer in neutral
1:23 – 9 calls W16 95 cross check in offensive zone front of net on M79
0:25 – W3 blocks shot with face, both slow to recognize that he’s seriously injured despite fact that he’s dropped stick and both gloves and skating towards officials’ entrance door to get to training room. Play continues for 8 seconds after block, not good recognition. 9 tries to explain to W22, and I’d like to hear it too
Period Recap:
Dive call on M40 was great and likely cumulative, though it was a very obvious self-induced fling at the boards. W dominates the possession and chances. M goalie has been outstanding. 9 dominating zone time (power play and M end during play) and not afraid to make trail calls. Still lots of sticks up, physical play picking up in open ice. One (or two) big misses on M during W pp.
20:00 – 9 drops puck, takes PP zone.
18:01 – 20 minor player interference
16:18 – 20 ignore 60 cross check M in front of net, area where things like that are generally let go
15:43 – M40 even strength goal, weak from the W goalie. 3-0 Montreal
15:17 -20 calls W14 65 trip, M21 99.95 dive – if M40 gets the lifetime achievement Oscar for persistent dives this game, this takes the cake for “unnatural ways to fall.” A full twist when his momentum was supposed to be going forward. The Russian judge only gives it a 4 because he muffs the landing.
13:36 – 9 call M40 95 dive. Really? Again? He’s looking for an interference call and moronically oversells it again. 0 high stick W77 (shoulder height), 20 slash/hook. Only a half twist this time, but still. This is getting old. To 4 v. 3. 20 takes zone
13:33ish – M26 looses stick inadvertently but launches the damn thing across the zone like a javelin. No penalty needed, but it’s rather startling.
11:24 – 20 ignores 70 delay of game M26, intentionally shoving a W player, then his own hands into goalpost to knock the net off during a W scramble.
10:50 – 9 calls 75 hook W18 on hands on M40 as he breaks in alone, ignores 75 dive M40 who knocks his own legs out (mild contact from W18’s legs from behind but nothing that would cause this style of leg-launching). Knock it off already. 9 takes zone
9:36 – 9 ignores ? slash W41 (goalie) on M player as he crosses on front of the net, very hard to tell because it’s at the edge of the screen. No ding. NR
9:30 – M46 goes down really awkwardly, again just at the edge of the camera. NR.
7:08 – 9 calls M20 85 interference, 20 takes zone.
4:50 – W16 tip in even strength goal. 3-1 Montreal
2:01 – 20 ignores 75 hook M79 on W19, doesn’t knock down with a guard-style stick move (like you see guards do at entrances to castles – you know what I mean) but forces turnover
1:55 – 20 ignores 65 hook M20 on W8 – off puck, trying to steer him
0:56 – M14 even strength goal 4-1 Montreal
Period Recap:
Holy stupid players, Batman. How many diving calls does it take to realize that they’re going to be calling diving in this game? At least three, apparently. DCS in the waning moments, and the missed delay of game was a lot more evident on replay than it was likely live, especially since he was trying to tell if the puck was frozen. Only minimal ding there.
Game Recap:
Washington dominated the chances and possession time but couldn’t solve Halak. The diving calls were absolutely correct and there could have been a few more – I suspect M40 is going to get a very, very strongly worded warning from the league after that one. Much more physical than the other game I did of this series, stick work way way up and sticks were being carried high. A few minor player interference moments, but overall pretty good skating from the refs.
#9 Dan O’Rourke – Skating: A, Positioning: A-, Safety: A-, Fairness: B, Call Quality: B
Fast skater with an odd decision making process that somehow works for him and not scared to make calls from the trail position. Very likely got fed up with M40 after the first period. Safety suffers slight ding for lack of recognition on W3 taking a shot to the face. Fairness and call quality suffered on missed slash by M (he was zone and had some sightline though 20 had a better one) and a slight imbalance of mid-level calls toward Montreal.
#20 Tim Peel – Skating: B, Positioning: B-, Safety: B, Fairness: B-, Call Quality: B-
Not quite as fast or agile as O’Rourke leading to a few more moments of player interference. Gets dinged for the delay on stopping the play on W3’s block and a couple mid-level cross checks on safety. Bad miss on the M slash as well as general DCS level at the end hurts fairness and call quality slightly.