Ann 22008 NHL Playoffs - Round 1: Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers Game 7 REVIEW
April 23rd 2008 13:59
Flyers finish off Caps with a 3-2 OT win in a highly contested game.
The Flyers' D was tired. The Caps forwards were skating rings around them and the threat of Ovechkin required special attention. At the other end, the Caps' D played a fast, efficient transition game to keep the puck out of their zone. So, what happened? A combination of average goaltending, defensive indiscipline from Washington proved to be fatal against the Flyers' lethal powerplay.
The Capitals were in control of the game. The crowd was behind them and they had scored the first goal of the game five minutes into the first period. Then, Alexander Semin took a hooking penalty and the Flyers didn't waste that opportunity. With 30 seconds left to their man advantage, Scottie Upshall fired a shot from the point with the puck slipping between Huet's legs. The French goalie should've made that stop. It wasn't the first time that he let in a goal like that. It happened often during his stay in Montreal, hence his reputation as a 'soft' goalie.
The Flyers took the lead after a blatant goalie-interference non-call (more on the referees' job later). Sami Kapanen shot in an completely empty net. But the Caps didn't despair. They kept pressuring the Flyers' defense and Alexander the Great who else? - fired a laser at Biron. I don't think the goalie saw the puck, it went in so fast.
Now, here comes the disappointing part of the series. Halfway through the second period, the referees decided to put their whistles away, letting the game flow by itself. At the start of overtime, a Caps defenseman tripped a Flyers player who was escaping on a breakaway. No call. It was obviously a penalty but the refs figured, hey, Game 7 of a tightly contested NHL quaterfinal, let the boys play. That's fine and all but five minutes later Washington defenseman tripped another Flyers in the same fashion (except this time, there wouldn't have been a breakaway), and he gets called. What the hell was that (they could have called the Flyers guy for diving while they were at it but it didn't happen)? Anyways, as expected, the Flyers scored on the powerplay thanks to a rebound given by Huet. Cristobal didn't even know where the puck was when Philly scored.
I find it disconcerting that the referees had such a big part in this game. They weren't consistent in their calls. On the non-call for goalie interference, they argued that it was a Caps defenseman who crashed into Huet. It's true but it was also obvious that the defenseman was pushed into his goalie by a Flyers player. Now, if this is a non-call, what stops other teams from pushing defensemen onto goalies to have a wide open net? The same thing happened in the Montreal-Boston series, with game-breaking calls going out to both teams. It's sad, really. Let's hope it gets better for Round 2.
Note: I'll be posting Round 1 Updates and Round 2 matchups in another post. Stay tuned.
The Flyers' D was tired. The Caps forwards were skating rings around them and the threat of Ovechkin required special attention. At the other end, the Caps' D played a fast, efficient transition game to keep the puck out of their zone. So, what happened? A combination of average goaltending, defensive indiscipline from Washington proved to be fatal against the Flyers' lethal powerplay.
The Capitals were in control of the game. The crowd was behind them and they had scored the first goal of the game five minutes into the first period. Then, Alexander Semin took a hooking penalty and the Flyers didn't waste that opportunity. With 30 seconds left to their man advantage, Scottie Upshall fired a shot from the point with the puck slipping between Huet's legs. The French goalie should've made that stop. It wasn't the first time that he let in a goal like that. It happened often during his stay in Montreal, hence his reputation as a 'soft' goalie.
The Flyers took the lead after a blatant goalie-interference non-call (more on the referees' job later). Sami Kapanen shot in an completely empty net. But the Caps didn't despair. They kept pressuring the Flyers' defense and Alexander the Great who else? - fired a laser at Biron. I don't think the goalie saw the puck, it went in so fast.
Now, here comes the disappointing part of the series. Halfway through the second period, the referees decided to put their whistles away, letting the game flow by itself. At the start of overtime, a Caps defenseman tripped a Flyers player who was escaping on a breakaway. No call. It was obviously a penalty but the refs figured, hey, Game 7 of a tightly contested NHL quaterfinal, let the boys play. That's fine and all but five minutes later Washington defenseman tripped another Flyers in the same fashion (except this time, there wouldn't have been a breakaway), and he gets called. What the hell was that (they could have called the Flyers guy for diving while they were at it but it didn't happen)? Anyways, as expected, the Flyers scored on the powerplay thanks to a rebound given by Huet. Cristobal didn't even know where the puck was when Philly scored.
I find it disconcerting that the referees had such a big part in this game. They weren't consistent in their calls. On the non-call for goalie interference, they argued that it was a Caps defenseman who crashed into Huet. It's true but it was also obvious that the defenseman was pushed into his goalie by a Flyers player. Now, if this is a non-call, what stops other teams from pushing defensemen onto goalies to have a wide open net? The same thing happened in the Montreal-Boston series, with game-breaking calls going out to both teams. It's sad, really. Let's hope it gets better for Round 2.
Note: I'll be posting Round 1 Updates and Round 2 matchups in another post. Stay tuned.
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