Resetti

Geez, Varlamov was insane tonight. The only time he was beaten cleanly was on Malkin's PP goal... everything else was strange deflections. I was starting to wonder whether or not the sustained intense play by the Penguins would be rewarded or if Varlamov would steal another one. After the 1st period, play was absolutely dominated by the Penguins, except they could not get anything past that beast Varlamov. One question has been very clearly answered though: Varlamov is for real. Nobody can still have doubts about that kid through the first three games of this series. If he doesn't come down to earth soon, though, Pittsburgh's still in serious trouble. It'd be unreasonable to expect Pittsburgh to forecheck and sustain pressure like they did all game tonight down the road.

I really cannot understand the mentality of conspiracy theorists in sports. Do you really think that the referee was thinking to himself, "Uh oh, this is a great scoring chance for Detroit! Better blow the whistle now so they don't win!" Is he wearing a Bluetooth earpiece with Bettman on the other end feeding him instructions in how to sabotage the Red Wings? ...or is it part of a memo before the game, in a sealed envelope that self-destructs after reading? Refs are human. They're going to make mistakes. What's amazing is that the fanbases of all 30 NHL teams scream "conspiracy" or "favoritism" when a call goes against them. Somehow, it's possible to do mental gymnastics to allow for a conspiracy from the villainous NHL commisioner's office to screw everybody over, and the time-honored tradition of whining about the officiating after a loss continues! According to the conspiracy theorist fans, these refs are so tuned into the game, so focused, that they can make split-second analysis on how to screw your team over as a play unfolds. As the puck is nearing the goal line, the referee cackles to himself as he pulls the whistle out to ruin your day. Of course, in the same breath about their grand calculated plan to ruin your team's chances, the commissioner and the referees are total boobs who don't know what's happening around them. My brain always feels funny after reading conspiracy theories like this. I'm not sure if it's a tickling sensation or the awkward feeling of my brain oozing out my ears.

By the book, play is dead whenever the referee blows the whistle. It doesn't matter if it is inadvertent or incorrect, the whistle stops all play. It is not reviewable because, I guess the thinking goes, players are supposed to stop as soon as the whistle is blown and so you can't extrapolate on what players might have done if play wasn't stopped. This is true in all major sports. It's absolutely atrocious that the ref blew the whistle on what was clearly a loose puck but it is what it is. From his angle, he thought the sprawled out Hiller had it frozen. Refs are taught to blow the whistle when they lose sight of the puck--really, it's a lose-lose situation for them anyway... if they blow it too quickly, like what happened tonight, one team obviously gets screwed. If they wait five or six seconds and the puck is covered, then they chewed up important time for one team or the other.

Someone should explain to Kunitz that when you're supposed to "get into the head of the young goalie," you don't do it literally. I generally don't like seeing suspensions in the postseason because of how they can tilt a series but the NHL has to define some kind of consistency in how they hand out punishment.

If Varlamov didn't prove his worth in Game 1, he definitely showed that he's for real in Game 2. Ovechkin and Varlamov continue to be the gamebreakers for Washington, while Crosby is the only man playing to the stakes for Pittsburgh. If the Penguins defense doesn't tighten up and play responsible hockey in the defensive end of the rink, Fleury will continue to be left out to dry and this will be a short series. It seems that nobody on the Penguins roster, aside from Crosby, realizes this is a playoff series. Until a team loses at home, this series is up in the air. Washington held serve, but can Pittsburgh inject themselves with the sense of urgency to even the score at home? Boy, is this series living up to the hype! Two hat tricks by the marquee players in the matchup in the same night... they both came to play.

What is with Wings fans and the axe to grind against Sidney Crosby? It doesn't seem to matter what he does, the people on these boards will nitpick him for something. It was an extended delay after the hat trick and he wanted to get his team out there to try and rally, what's the big deal? I understand that people don't like him but it's quickly becoming a pastime to ***** about Crosby--irony belts a slapper in for a goal. When Ovechkin complains to the ref about a call against his team he thinks is weak, he's "leading by example for his team." When Crosby complains to the ref about a call against his team he thinks is weak, he's "whispering sweet nothings in the ref's ear" or "being a *****." The double-standard applied by biased fans is hilarious. I thought that I'd get some good hockey insight from the folks of Detroit when I joined this forum a year ago, and there are definitely reasonable hockey minds that post on this board, but intelligent banter is more difficult to find than I hoped.

Ths has been an exciting game to watch, in terms of the high level of energy and physical play, but... man, talk about sloppy play on both sides of the rink. Gonchar is having a bad game. He screens Fleury on the first goal and then is very lazy in retrieving the puck on the PP that lead to Gagne's goal. It should be an exciting finish to this game if it's played anything like the first two periods.

I know there are no moral victories in playoff hockey games, but at the very least the Capitals fielded a netminder that could stand his ground today. I was surprised they benched Theodore so quickly after a bad Game 1, but if this kid can play like this every game, it's a step in the right direction. It might be too little too late with Washington blowing home ice advantage already though... Geez, Rangers with two wins under the belt before playing one game at home! Who saw that coming?