I was going to cover the game in detail, as have lots of thoughts after fortunately attending it last night, but the loss is now oddly enough secondary. The primary focus is the likely loss of Derek Stepan to a broken jaw resulting from an unpenalized hit by Brandon Prust. In addition, the Rangers are also looking at the possible absence of Dan Carcillo, which beyond his own inability to control himself was a result of that unpenalized hit leading to Carcillo's initial hit on Prust later in the first.
See Stepan hit here
Xheckmajor pretty much summed up our feelings on the hit, which is what I thought when I first saw it and that sense gets stronger each time I watch it.
Prust goes out of his way to hit Stepan as hard as he can after Step chips the puck off the boards and takes three strides towards the middle of the ice. At this point, Stepan is completely not expecting contact. Some people say he should keep his head up, YEAH WHEN HE HAS THE PUCK. Can't even call it incidental open ice contact, Prust targeted him, bent his knees and extended upward throwing the hit as hard as he can through Stepan. I can't honestly say it was a head shot, Prust tried to keep it clean, but he did go for an all out hit. If Stepan had stayed skating straight and Prust came across and rode him in the boards out of the play, then you could argue Prust was finishing his check in the skating lane he and Step were both traveling in. Its Steps change of direction and multiple strides after that make this a conscious choice which borderlines intent to injure.
The failure of the officials to make any call there set the tone for the remainder of the game. It's why Carcillo hit Prust, though it was more on the side than to the back for charging. It's why Derek Dorsett went after Prust. It's why Carcillo ended up getting the game misconduct, since if the penalty hadn't happened and Dorsett wasn't fighting with Prust, Driscoll the linesman would not have been grabbing Carcillo to take him to the box. Granted, Carcillo should not have acted as he did, which likely will result in a suspension, but you have to wonder why Driscoll was grabbing him to begin with, yet all of this transpired due to a missed call by the officials. Call it dominoes or whatever name you want, but one event led to another.
The officials in general have been horrific these playoffs. Last night was just more evidence of that. The missed call on Prust. The roughing call on Brendan Gallagher coming after the missed slash by Ryan McDonagh, so you had the non-penalty called and the actual penalty missed. Several penalties could have been called on P.K. Subban, yet weren't. But now you have a key player injured due to a missed call and another one possibly lost for the playoffs resulting from that blown call. In addition, the penalty on Prust should have been a five-minute one, the failure of which to call it possibly impacted the game and now, maybe the series.
Now, the Rangers come off a disappointing 3-2, overtime loss to Montreal that let them back in the series. Derick Brassard is still questionable due to his bad back. Carcillo may be suspended and now Stepan could be lost for the balance of the playoffs, following surgery to repair his jaw, robbing New York of their top center. If Stepan can't go and Brassard, dealing with what looks to be a left shoulder injury, can, look for Brassard to be back between Zucc and Pouliot, Dominic Moore to center the top line with Nash and Kreider and JT Miller to go on the fourth line with Boyle and Dorsett. If Brassard and Stepan can't go, then it's holy heck. Look for Moore on the first or second line with Miller on the other line. Look for Jesper Fast to land on the fourth line. Making the probable lines:
Kreider - Miller - Nash
Hagelin - Richards - MSL
Zuccarello - Moore - Pouliot
Dorsett - Boyle - Fast
Unfortunately, we now have a series and the possible absence of several takes what looked to be a fairly secure lead and now possibly NY back to the underdog status, given the dearth of talent up front. This is where your leaders - Richards, St. Louis, etc. - who have been lauded of late, especially after all the transpired following the passing of St. Louis' mom, really need to lead. Hopefully, Stepan can play after the surgery with a full mask/cage and plate in his jaw, but coming off a broken jaw, it's unsure if he will be able and allowed to do so. In addition, it's a bit concerning that the X-rays taken after the original incident did not show a fracture, he was cleared to come back and was able to play the remainder of the game plus talk to the media. It's solely because he indicated today he had some pain/discomfort that he had other scans of the jaw showing the fracture, so questions of why wasn't those scans taken yesterday and did he exacerbate the injury at all on any other hits during the contest are ones that have to be answered.
The NHL should be embarrassed by the piss-poor officiating, on both sides of the coin. Plus, it's not only been in this series, but throughout the season and playoffs. Prust has a phone hearing today with Director of Player Safety, Stephane Quintal, so the max he can get is five games, but let's see if the wimpy NHL actually cracks down appropriately. Regardless of what's handed down, it's not bringing Stepan back and doesn't obviate the blown call on the ice. Until the league gets its collective head out of its collective rear and improves the officiating on the ice and how it's managed off, it will always be a second class sport.
Carcillo was automatically suspended for 10 games as a result of being assessed a Game Misconduct penalty under Rule 40.3 Physical Abuse of Officials -- Category II during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final in New York on Thursday, May 22, the National Hockey League announced Friday.
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