Those referees were in fact pretty bad. Where I draw the line with the writer is their implication that the Islanders were saintly while the Penguins were dirty. Your precious goaltender and defensemen were guilty of penalties that were not called shortly before Malkin lost his cool. The officials let this one get out of hand, especially in the third period.
Shortly after the Pens tied the game, a coincidental set of minors was called. Brooks Orpik was basically given 2 minutes for receiving a punch, as he did absolutely nothing. The writer forgot to mention that.
Later, in regards to Malkin, the writer says he "showed his true colors". Sure he did. He was cross-checked, tripped, and slashed by the goaltender with nothing called. Then he lost his mind and went after Tavarez, committing at least 4 penalties before the refs finally whistled him for one. On that PK, Letang tripped Vanek, but Vanek came after the Pens players a bit too. As they did with the Malkin incident, the refs let Vanek get out a little frustration before finally calling a penalty on him. The referees were at least consistent. They gave both Malkin and Vanek the exact same amount of rope before calling penalties on them.
Both Malkin and Vanek were incredibly selfish during those final few minutes of the game, each potentially costing their team a chance to win. But if you are going to call out a player, be consistent yourself. Had the refs made a call earlier against the Isles, Malkin may not go nuts. Likewise, if the blatant trip by Letang is called, Im sure we dont see Vanek lose it.

Either way, disparaging the Penguins players because they beat your team--again--certainly does not lend credibility to your point of view. You are correct, Malkin will never win the Lady Byng. But to say that shows his true colors implies he is a dirty player. He is not. You want to see dirty? How about going back to you tube and watching the cheap shots your Islanders took--especially when an Islander attacked a defenseless Eric Tangradi and then mocked him as Tangradi laid injured on the ice (Tangradi received a concussion and missed most of the rest of that seaosn)-- against the Penguins a couple Februaries ago. Im not going to call them a dirty team, but THAT NIGHT, they played very dirty. So call it what it was and be honest. Vanek and Malkin are both high quality players who got frustrated with the officiating in that game, taking selfish penalties. Neither is a dirty player. Period.
- Amanion

thank you

As do most Pens fans
- Cptmjl

Well said...

Why wasn't Sid penalized 2 minutes for being awesome on the last play of the game?
- Potash4prez

Vanek had much to do about that...

Game One 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals ...Daniel Briere three feet offside, scores goal....that was a bad call

The officiating was terrible last night, but so was the Islanders penalty kill and puck management...
- Tiogadog

That's "par for the course"...

Your team of choice makes this comment have a credibilty of....ZERO.
- Doogs

When did I say the Flyers were innocent?

Those referees were in fact pretty bad. Where I draw the line with the writer is their implication that the Islanders were saintly while the Penguins were dirty. Your precious goaltender and defensemen were guilty of penalties that were not called shortly before Malkin lost his cool. The officials let this one get out of hand, especially in the third period.
Shortly after the Pens tied the game, a coincidental set of minors was called. Brooks Orpik was basically given 2 minutes for receiving a punch, as he did absolutely nothing. The writer forgot to mention that.
Later, in regards to Malkin, the writer says he "showed his true colors". Sure he did. He was cross-checked, tripped, and slashed by the goaltender with nothing called. Then he lost his mind and went after Tavarez, committing at least 4 penalties before the refs finally whistled him for one. On that PK, Letang tripped Vanek, but Vanek came after the Pens players a bit too. As they did with the Malkin incident, the refs let Vanek get out a little frustration before finally calling a penalty on him. The referees were at least consistent. They gave both Malkin and Vanek the exact same amount of rope before calling penalties on them.
Both Malkin and Vanek were incredibly selfish during those final few minutes of the game, each potentially costing their team a chance to win. But if you are going to call out a player, be consistent yourself. Had the refs made a call earlier against the Isles, Malkin may not go nuts. Likewise, if the blatant trip by Letang is called, Im sure we dont see Vanek lose it.

Either way, disparaging the Penguins players because they beat your team--again--certainly does not lend credibility to your point of view. You are correct, Malkin will never win the Lady Byng. But to say that shows his true colors implies he is a dirty player. He is not. You want to see dirty? How about going back to you tube and watching the cheap shots your Islanders took--especially when an Islander attacked a defenseless Eric Tangradi and then mocked him as Tangradi laid injured on the ice (Tangradi received a concussion and missed most of the rest of that seaosn)-- against the Penguins a couple Februaries ago. Im not going to call them a dirty team, but THAT NIGHT, they played very dirty. So call it what it was and be honest. Vanek and Malkin are both high quality players who got frustrated with the officiating in that game, taking selfish penalties. Neither is a dirty player. Period.
- Amanion

Well said. This blog has no hockey analysis. It's just this hack of a writer complaining about officiating after she said she wasn't going to in the beginning of the article

We get it, there were questionable calls. I can point my finger at several infractions that the Islanders got away with just as well and crucify those players, but I'm not a bitter "journalist" covering Islander hockey on Hockeybuzz...

Just get to the point, Dee. Your team blew a 2 goal lead and lost to the Pens...again. The Islanders are still second tier and will probably stay that way for the forseeable future. Sucks to suck.

Game One 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals ...Daniel Briere three feet offside, scores goal....that was a bad call

The officiating was terrible last night, but so was the Islanders penalty kill and puck management...
- Tiogadog

Game One 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals ...Penguins dump from 3 feet short of the red line, no icing, Dupuis scores goal....that was a bad call

Regular Season doesn't matter. The Pens will surely poop the bed come playoff time.
- lileapers

Says the fan of the team with one Stanley cup in the past 73 years....

Wah! My four year old doesn't whine as much as this blog post. "They took liberties...". "Oh my god, Malkin and Letang get away with murder." WAHHHHH!

Oh my god, suck it up. The officials miss poop every single night. From the little that I saw of tonight's game Tavares was no saint himself. I can only imagine there were others not wearing black and gold that got away with a hack or slash.

Your team lost, it happens, get over it. I don't female dog and moan about the officials every time Pittsburgh poops the bed. I put the onus on the players.
- simethos

....no point of me reading past this....thanks for the heads up.

Why wasn't Sid penalized 2 minutes for being awesome on the last play of the game?
- Potash4prez

another missed call...glad someone saw it!

When did I say the Flyers were innocent?
- jmatchett383

Pot calling the Kettle?

Sorry

Did you read the Blog?
- Doogs

did you hear that???

if you listen closely youll hear the sound of michael haley picking up his phone...

Speaking of officiating...

I have been watching a lot of games...not just the Pens...and it seems to me that the enforcement of the interference rule has really started to lighten up.

I'm not sure I want them to change anything...but if the league is looking for ways to increase scoring then they should look at games played just after the season long lockout ended (2005-06 season) and those being played now.

There are lots of times now where a guy who is making his way toward a puck is impeded and there is simply no call. There are lots of times when a player that is about to get to a puck is engaged before he has the puck.

Again...this is not a "the Pens are interfered with" complaint...in fact this was something I noticed a lot the other night watching the Red Wings game.

Just saying...a few years back..there would have been calls...or players would have played the scenario differently.

I don't want a bunch of power plays in games...but at the same time...if the league wants scoring, then they should take a look at how much interference has become accepted in the game again. If they start to call it more closely...there will be more calls at first...but eventually players will play differently and it will open up the game.

Speaking of officiating...

I have been watching a lot of games...not just the Pens...and it seems to me that the enforcement of the interference rule has really started to lighten up.

I'm not sure I want them to change anything...but if the league is looking for ways to increase scoring then they should look at games played just after the season long lockout ended (2005-06 season) and those being played now.

There are lots of times now where a guy who is making his way toward a puck is impeded and there is simply no call. There are lots of times when a player that is about to get to a puck is engaged before he has the puck.

Again...this is not a "the Pens are interfered with" complaint...in fact this was something I noticed a lot the other night watching the Red Wings game.

Just saying...a few years back..there would have been calls...or players would have played the scenario differently.

I don't want a bunch of power plays in games...but at the same time...if the league wants scoring, then they should take a look at how much interference has become accepted in the game again. If they start to call it more closely...there will be more calls at first...but eventually players will play differently and it will open up the game.
- icedog97

cue the clip of deryk engelland taking out clutterbuck 5 feet before they get to the puck.

Speaking of officiating...

I have been watching a lot of games...not just the Pens...and it seems to me that the enforcement of the interference rule has really started to lighten up.


- icedog97

See Bruins, Boston and pretty much any game played in the Western Conference

cue the clip of deryk engelland taking out clutterbuck 5 feet before they get to the puck.
- LetsGoIsles

Yep.

Why wasn't Sid penalized 2 minutes for being awesome on the last play of the game?
- Potash4prez

haha that was actually, VERY funny.

As do most Pens fans
- Cptmjl

Well, that was a very well thought out and explained retort. I am not sure how to respond...

Yep.
- icedog97

...*wait a minute, that wasnt confrontation*....

Dee - I'm getting tired of reading this nonsense. No analysis, no insight, and reads like a 10 year old wrote it. Did you actually mean that you were not going to complain about the refs, or was that just sarcasm? Your entire article is one giant complaint!

I was at the game last night. There were questionable calls in both directions, but you know what, good teams find a way to win. Once it gets to OT, the Isles will never win unless it goes to a shootout. It can't be the refs every time.

Dee, how about editing your work? Typos everywhere, incomplete statements, and this was not Nilsson's 2nd NHL start.

Officials should have stopped the garbage from both sides early. I always love the blinders all teams fans put on when it comes to this issue. The blog summed that up. Isles goalie "plays with an edge" and thats good. Pens players have "disregrd for rules and safety." A comment on the fan posts. The reason "nobody likes pens fan" is because there team is relevent. ten years ago nobody gave a crap about pens fans. When the islanders finally break out of their sucky state, their fans will be "hated" "arrogent" and "pussies." As of right now, Isles fans just dont register enough. Hence the frustration seen on this board.

Forget the refs. Even if we had gotten the calls our PP most likely would not have scored. Its about taken advantage of the opportunites such as scoring on a penalty shot or killing a penalty. My biggest frustration was watching Malkin standing over Tavares and not one teammate coming to the aid of the franchise player after Tavares slashed Malkin and Malkin shoved him to the ice. Whether JT deserved it or not is irrelevant. You do not let that happen...unless you really don't care.
A team with pride would not have let that happen. It was at that moment we saw just how broken this team is.

Dee - I'm getting tired of reading this nonsense. No analysis, no insight, and reads like a 10 year old wrote it. Did you actually mean that you were not going to complain about the refs, or was that just sarcasm? Your entire article is one giant complaint!

I was at the game last night. There were questionable calls in both directions, but you know what, good teams find a way to win. Once it gets to OT, the Isles will never win unless it goes to a shootout. It can't be the refs every time.

Dee, how about editing your work? Typos everywhere, incomplete statements, and this was not Nilsson's 2nd NHL start.
- islesrok

these condescending comments that dont make an opinion more credible or not...

I am not sure which is a bigger bunch of Tuesdays. The Penguins players or their fans.

Dee - I'm getting tired of reading this nonsense. No analysis, no insight, and reads like a 10 year old wrote it. Did you actually mean that you were not going to complain about the refs, or was that just sarcasm? Your entire article is one giant complaint!

I was at the game last night. There were questionable calls in both directions, but you know what, good teams find a way to win. Once it gets to OT, the Isles will never win unless it goes to a shootout. It can't be the refs every time.

Dee, how about editing your work? Typos everywhere, incomplete statements, and this was not Nilsson's 2nd NHL start.
- islesrok

Here's a thought... so don't read it.