Dein erstes Forum » To the best of my best recollection the puck ricocheted

PITTSBURGH -- Columbus coach Todd Richards insists his upstart team isnt in the playoffs "just to go to school." Maybe, but the Pittsburgh Penguins provided a pretty valuable lesson in perseverance during a 4-3 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday night. Down two after 21 minutes of slow and sometimes sloppy hockey, the Metropolitan Division champions responded by scoring the final three goals, including Brandon Sutters go-ahead wrist shot 8:18 into the third period. "I think we expected a tight game," Sutter said after the third playoff goal of his career. "They got up and we stuck with it. It was a good win." One that came with more than a few tense moments. Beau Bennett and Matt Niskanen scored power-play goals 45 seconds apart in the second period, erasing Pittsburghs two-goal deficit. Jussi Jokinen also scored for the Penguins and Marc-Andre Fleury overcame some shaky defence in front of him to stop 31 shots. Game 2 is Saturday night. "We have to learn from it but we found a way to win," Pittsburgh forward Sidney Crosby said. "Obviously we didnt start the way we wanted, getting down two goals. I think we have to clean up some things." If not, a series expected to be a romp could turn into something else entirely. Jack Johnson, Mark Letestu and Derek Mackenzie scored for the Blue Jackets, who remain in search of their first-ever playoff win. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 28 saves but was handcuffed by Sutters knuckler at the end of a 2-on-1 break. "Ive seen Bob make that save a thousand times," Richards said. "It just got by him." The Blue Jackets insisted they wouldnt be intimidated despite Pittsburghs overwhelming edge in playoff experience and star power. The Penguins swept the five regular-season meetings between the teams, but Columbus surged after the Olympic break, rising to the seventh seed in the East while the injury-riddled Penguins coasted to a division title. If the NHLs youngest team was scared by the stage, it hardly showed. Johnson gave the Blue Jackets their first-ever post-season lead 6:20 into the game. He charged to the front of the net, got a feed from Brandon Dubinsky and beat Fleury with a beautiful deke from forehand to backhand. The Penguins answered with 2:51 left in the first when Evgeni Malkin -- returning after missing three weeks with a foot injury -- took advantage of a turnover by Fedor Tyutin and hit Jokinen in the slot. The knuckling wrist shot sailed over Bobrovskys right shoulder and Pittsburgh exhaled. But only briefly. With Pittsburgh defenceman Rob Scuderi off for interference, the Blue Jackets went back in front 2-1 when Letestu jammed home a rebound and sent Columbus soaring into the dressing room. "People were wondering how we would start the game with our inexperience, but we were pretty comfortable after the first period with a 2-1 lead and maybe let off the gas," Columbus centre Ryan Johansen said. Mackenzie got loose for a breakaway short-handed goal, pushing the advantage to 3-1 just 43 seconds into the second. But Columbus momentum then vanished against the leagues top power play. Bennett tipped in a Niskanen slap shot 51 seconds after Mackenzie scored. Johnson was quickly whistled for interference and Niskanen needed only 10 seconds to even the game with a snap shot from the left circle. Things settled down after the five goals in 5 minutes flurry, though Columbus didnt exactly fold. The Blue Jackets carried play at times in the first two periods. The Penguins righted themselves in the third. The miscues that plagued them for the first 40 minutes disappeared, replaced by the kind of responsible play they know theyll need to make a serious run at the franchises fourth Stanley Cup. "Nobody panicked," Fleury said. "The power play was huge for us like it has been all season. It got us back in the game and from then we were in good shape." NOTES: Pittsburgh is 10-3 in its last 13 Game 1s played on home ice. ... The Blue Jackets scratched forwards R.J. Umberger (upper body) and Nick Foligno (lower body), though coach Todd Richards said both players could be available for Game 2. ... Crosby assisted on Niskanens goal to give him 106 career points in the post-season, tied with Kevin Stevens for third on the franchise list. Authentic NHL Jerseys . No such luck. Wiggins owned the end of Parkers impressive homecoming. The Kansas star scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, outplaying Parker down the stretch and helping the fifth-ranked Jayhawks knock off No. NHL Jerseys . Perhaps their first trip to the city of Winnipeg in 16 years can serve as the shakeup they need. https://www.cheapnhljerseysjustwholesale.com/ . - Alex Dostie scored two goals and assisted on another to lead the Gatineau Olympiques to a 5-3 victory over the Drummondville Voltigeurs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Sunday. NHL Jerseys 2020 . Clevelands manager had just watched his team lose 5-3 to Kansas City, which completed a 2-6 homestand and dropped the Indians 2 1/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central. NHL Jerseys China . Jackson Houck added a goal and two assists for the Giants (28-23-10), who halted a five-game slide, while Tyler Morrison, Mason Geertsen and Dominik Volek each scored once. Matt Bellerive scored both goals for the Blazers (12-43-5), who are 1-9-0 in their last 10 outings.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, Been reading your column for bit now and I had a question on the Penguins vs. Panthers game over the weekend. Just wondering about the incident where Floridas Willie Mitchell swung Kris Letangs helmet at him in a fight and didnt receive any extra minutes for it? At the very least, he shouldve gotten an additional two minutes shouldnt he? Im surprised he didnt get tossed or get a 10-minute misconduct. Just wondering what your thoughts are. Thanks, Paul Larocque Paul: A five-minute match (Rule 21) should have been imposed on Willie Mitchell for swinging a helmet at the unprotected head of Kris Letang. The action by Mitchell was a clear attempt to injure his opponent. It was only through the distance of separation created by the intervention of the two linesmen that Mitchells attempt became a swing and a miss at Letangs head. Instead, the deliberate blow accidentally struck the Linesman in the shoulder or arm. A match is the most severe penalty in the book that a referee can impose. Beyond expulsion from the game and the five-minute penalty to the offending players team, a match penalty carries an immediate suspension until the Commissioner has ruled on the issue. In this case, no further action would have been imposed against Mitchell by the Player Safety Committee. If nothing else, a match penalty would have been the correct penalty assessment in the game by the officials. The referee closest to the Letang-Mitchell fight (and most responsible for observing this altercation) was preoccupied with the secondary dustup that was taking place near the net. From a position the ref assumed between the two altercations he attempted to verbally command players near the net to cease and desist while the Linesmen were involved elsewhere. In doing so, the ref turned his back on the main event and did not observe the helmet swing by Mitchell. The linesmen are allowed to report to the referee any infraction worthy of a match penalty. Derek Amell and Andy McElman, two excellent veteran linesmen, were wrestling in close quarters with Mitchell and Letang and most likely did not realize the full extent of Mitchells actions until they might have seen a replay of the incident. Swinging a helmet at a players head goes well beyond the normal and accepted conduct in a fight to attempt to inflict punishment on an opponent (use of fists). It is akin to Rule 51.3 which calls for a match penalty to be imposed against a goalkeeper who uses his blocker to punch an opponent in the head or face in an attempt to injure or to deliberately injure an opponent. Willie Mitchell was fortunate not to incur a match penalty - Kris Letang was perhaps most fortunate the swinging helmet did not catch him in the head. As we move into the Christmas break, I want to share a couple of similar situations where I imposed match penalties. When I signed my first NHL contract in 1973, I was sent to the Western League for the playoffs that season as part of my development. Maintaining control of games during that era was a difficult task for every referee. Bench clearing brawls often occurred and the violence associated with them could be scary. In the Western Conference Final, the New Westminster Bruuins were battling the Calgary Centennials.dddddddddddd The Bruins were a real tough team to work and had future NY Ranger captain Ron Greschner on defence recording 103 points and 170 penalty minutes that season. Reg Duncombe led the Bruins in penalty minutes with 369, but several other players followed just under the 200-minute mark. I worked every second game in the series, alternating with my friend and NHL colleague Charlie Banfield. The benches emptied in every game at least once and sometimes twice as was the case in one game I worked in the Calgary Corral. The second brawl started when the linesmen were engaged with two players and I saw big Harold Phillipoff (63-220 lbs) go after Danny Gare (59-175 lbs), the star player for Calgary and future 50-plus goal scorer with the Buffalo Sabres. I felt the need to quickly intervene to prevent what appeared to be a David versus Goliath matchup, given Phillipoffs huge advantage in size (Harold was selected in the first round of the 1976 NHL Draft; 10th overall by the Atlanta Flames). My adrenalin was pumping as I grabbed both players with a twisted grip to the front of their jerseys and proceeded to read Phillipoff the riot act. Big Harold was looking right through me and didnt respond to a word I said. I was able to contain the big guy only so long until I got arm weary. Phillipoff reached down and across me, unbuckled Gares helmet and yanked it off the Calgary players head by the chin strap. In one swift motion Phillipoff swung the helmet down below his waist and came right over the top with a hard swing at Gares head. The crazy thing is that Gares helmet landed right back on his head the exact same way it came off and in perfect position. At this point all I could do was let them have it and hope that Gare could handle himself. What an understatement as Danny Gare kicked the snot out of his bigger but younger opponent. Phillipoffs face was a bloody pulp and I assessed him a match penalty for attempting to injure Gare with the helmet swing. Another incident where a player was in the giving spirit occurred in a 1981 game at the Montreal Forum between the Habs and the Pittsburgh Penguins in late November. Montreal enforcer Chris Nilan and Penguins tough guy Paul Baxter were seated in the penalty box following dustup. In those days there was little or even no glass petition to separate players in the penalty box other than a table occupied by the game timekeeper and public address announcer. The pucks were kept cold in bucket of ice inside the Montreal penalty box. Knuckles reached into the bucket of pucks and fired a missile at Baxter. To the best of my best recollection the puck ricocheted off the side glass and clipped Baxter in the head but didnt cause any damage. A match penalty for attempt to injure resulted in a three-game suspension to my good friend Chris Nilan. Incidents of this nature, including the recent helmet swing by Willie Mitchell, move beyond a minor infraction. Instead, they must be regarded for what they are (an attempt to injure) and penalized appropriately with a match. Once the correct penalty is assessed on the ice it is then up to the Player Safety Committee to make a responsible determination if the act warrants a suspension. I wish everyone a very merry and blessed Christmas with family and friends. Cmon Ref will return on Dec. 29. ' ' '