Last night’s 2-1 Dallas Stars win over the Washington Capitals provided plenty to like (and plenty to not) in the course of regular play, but also a couple of moments worthy of a little video review as we leisurely step into a five-day break already.
Most notably the near-decapitation of the season in the form of Kari Lehtonen.
Washington had an apparent goal of a series of weird bounces Saturday night, but a strewn about Lehtonen and a conference by the officials saw it waived off, much to the dismay of Capitals head coach Adam Oates.
“I thought once the puck goes in there you’re allowed to go after it and I didn’t think Backy interfered with him,” Oates said after. “I thought he touched the puck first and then the goalie. Obviously the goalie embellished a little.”
When a grown-arse NHL player-man cross-checks you in the face it would’t seem that much in the way of embellishment is necessary.
He appears to hit he puck with the glove, which Brenden Morrow and Stars fans know is a no-no, he may even contact it above the crossbar, and then the obvious infraction on Lehtonen. The question isn’t so much about why the goal didn’t count, as much as it is why there was no penalty assessed on the play.
As Erin wrote last night, the league views in this way “Referee Mike Leggo determined that Nicklas Backstrom made incidental contact with goalie Kari Lehtonen and prevented Lehtonen from doing his job in the crease — no goal, no penalty.“
The important part is that Kari Lehtonen got up and finished the game quite brilliantly, given only a single goal lead with which to work.
True to form as shepherds of hockey karma, the zebras decided moments later to give the Caps a break and whistled Shawn Horcoff for a hooking penalty that the Stars are still trying to find.
The funny part was the referee admonishing Horcoff with his microphone on, which could have been much more catastrophic than it was had Mike Leggo chosen to use more colorful verbiage.
Maybe an F-bomb next time if you really want to make the rounds on Sportscenter.
The Stars bring you the game in six minutes…