lomekian

Yeah, but we know in these playoffs that a wings big hit means a misconduct....

more and more and more...now on leino ..f*** this

Nice and the pens goal was off side...getting ass-fuicked left right and centre...this is SO frustrating...

really should have been a 5 on 3 there..

'bout ******* time!

Nice to see versus mention corsby cheating at face-offs

SHOCK ******* HORROR.....bulls*** penalty = pens goal....good old mccreary..

another suspect penalty..hooray!

Digdug.....your viewpoint is fair enough, and the wings have got away with enough for us to not feel the officiating is biased, but some of the calls have been very poor. The too many men call was disgusting, because it was so obvious. If you see the replay, the centre ice ref is clearly thinking something is up because of the way he looks around the rink after seeing eaton. It was just a really bad error. The odd hook, interference etc call is going to go for or against you because the margins are so tight, but seeing the cross check that kronwall was called on in gme 2 compared to Hall Gills licence to do the same all night is hard to take. Its the consistency of the big calls that are lacking - I can understand why a ref would miss a hossa slight hook that leads to a goal, or talbot mild slash that prevents someone form having a clean shot at an empty net. These things are about degrees or interpretation. But the too many men non-call, the malkin non-suspension (which was always going to happen!), Orpik and Gill's attempted rape of any small forwards in their zone all night (literally several rugby tackles in the 2nd and early third), are not interpretation calls. They are black and white (not as bad as the goal scored on the wings this year after the puck had been shot out of play!). And of course, the wings fans have a build up of suspicion after a suprisingly large number of similarly obvious calls agains them this year and last. Its not an anti pens thing. We bash you guys cos you're the only team in the east we're remotely scared of. That and the entirely media machine being up cosby's arse. He's a fantastic player and young leader, but no matter how hard they try to make it happen, he's not going to be Gretzky. I like the pens, and against most teams i would be happy to see them succeed (though the federov angel had me going for the caps). Apart from a couple of exceptions, the pens aren't remotely dirty, they try to play the right way, and are one dynamic winger from being the most exciting team to watch (IMO). Also respect for Bylsma on this board has been pretty much universal. He's the anti-therrien...classy, smart and effective. Basically we're bitching because 1) we're a little nervous 2) No Dats 3) Poor officiating over an extended period of time 4) Our PK has disintegrated. We all know that the pens are the one team out east who could turn this around, and we're a couple of key players down. Our s***ty PK means we are vulnerable to the Pens PP, so bad or inconsitant calls are really hurting us. PS..could Malkin be any more different this year. If he was out as dats is for us, this would be a walk in the park for the wings....

Also agree with those rightly criticising our PK which has gone from great to awful in a few months...missing lilja's size and shot blocking and dats aweseomeness on the pk too. Also worring about how ineffective we were at dealing with their forecheck tonight, also agree that Hossa is trying too damn hard and needs to get clearer and more relaxed in his thinking.. Anyway its 4.15 am here, and i shoudl really be in bed.....******* refs...if this goes to 7 i'm going to get fired!

This was always likely to be the game that the pens would win, and not having pav is really starting to bite. Didn't agree with babs keeping drapes out tonight, as face-offs in road games with the match up disadvantage can make a big difference, and i think he still contributes more than maltby. That said, equally painful was being so dominant in the 2nd perioid and not scoring and sammy playing ding a ling on the breakaway (he's had a poor series so far, but he's not alone, as the huds, holmstrom and to a lesser degree hossa, have contribute very little). The problem with dats being out is that hank is pretty much carrying the majority of offensive and defensive burden. Missing Lilja too, but no hope on that one. Gets kinda sickening that despite all that, its still the inconsistant officaiting that is making the difference - its starting to get like a scrum in rugby, where as an observer, you have no idea what will and won't get called, and the worst offenders always get away with it. I could take it if it was sneaky, or a dominating team getting penalties through pressure, but the wings, as a 'clean' team, are getting continually punished by the desire of the officials to try to even up calls and keep games close. You always hear opposing coaches say that they shoudl calls against the wings to even up the penalty count, and no one argues with this. Its the one thing about the NHL which i find both frustrating and mystifying. Not to mention the fact it totally undermines the rulebook. I suppose the luck we had in game 1 and 2 had to cancel out tonight, but it can't it happen without incompetent officiating. Think it'll be wings in 6 like last year, and definitely if dats can come back for game 4 or 5. Its interesting though, we are learning a lot about the team, and which players thrive in which situtations.

EN...cock it...

Every time the puck gets near the pens crease tonight there you can see a wings forward being cross checked to the ice by one of Gill, Orpik or Scuderi....f*** me, what are the point of rules if they are so obviously ignored?

Equally shocking, soft call leads to PP goal to change momentum against the wings...maybe the 15th time these playoffs?

My my, another soft call gainst the wings...who'd a thought it.....

Jesus, Bettman is perhaps the dullest man in existance....good 2nd period from the wings. If they can sustain it, this game is for the taking....

saw the repaly...not remotely a penalty...i get teh impression bylsma is pretty classy, but if the wings win this we'll soon see...

Not entirely convincing at the moment, with sammy and huds particularly ineffectual so far tonight. Nice to see Mike enjoying his wings moment....

that is a gret shot by val!

Wow we got a call! Hank would have scored that chance lst year, but his finishing hasn't been quite as spot on this year......

Having said that, the team looks tired and lacking in jump, especially hossa, franzen filpulla and our banged up boys....

Missing drapes and dats badly on the face-offs (and dats in general)...actully missing Lilja too, as the superior size of the penguins forwards is causing problems, and we certainly miss him on the PK. Pens could have easily had 2 or 3 calls against them and they get their goal off a slip called from the halfway line. Its just as well the wings are so good, as the number of directly goal related calls in tight games that have gone against them in these playoffs already is crazy. we've been given 2 by the refs and had about 10 against us.....

How unsual...bulkls*** call form dickhead ref leads to pp goal against the wings..ever seen that before?

Nothing wrong with mocking the french...after all if it wasn't for their bitterness about previous minor disputes leading them to betray the english and provide a massive concentration of military support at a key time, good old georgie washington would have been captured and hung as the traitor to the crown he was! In fact if it wasn't for the 'cheese eating surrender monkeys', the USA wouldn't exist except as part of the british empire, as it was primarly subsequent US economic warfare that destroyed the British Empire as it existed...... No French = no USA! Still, we stole canada off them, so that's something....! as for Mmes Talbot and Campbell, I thought it was squealing like stuck pigs the moment someone lays a hit on them (or teammates) like the ones they lay on others....Hypocrisy, that's the word. And as I brit, I am genetically predisposed to understanding it.....

Sammy always takes too much stick. He's a solid 3rd liner who's lapses and brain-farts are tolerated because he has a habit of getting big goals, is a right hand shot, and actually has the talent level to be a 2nd liner if he was more consitant. For the money he gets he's been a bargain for the wings, and if he'd resign for the same, I'd probably take him and the cap space over Hossa, who's current performance level is making it easier for Kenny to play hard ball with any contract negotiations. Sammy gets so much stick because of his over-use on the PP and the fact we can see that with better decision making, and using the body more in keeping with his size he could be a second liner.... Having said that, the Hossa bashing is out of order. He is a high impact, defensively responsible 2-way player who is a streaky (like most scorers). It wouldn't surprise anyone if him and dats suddenly turn things round and start piling up the points - though I'm amazed about how bad his shooting has been these playoffs, given his level of finish for the penguins last year.