RECAP: NUCKS WIN! Incompetent Refs and Game 3-2 in SO

We’re in the stretch run of our seasonal disappointment. We’re not making the playoffs. Unlike last season where we didn’t make the playoffs. And the season before that. And... Where am I going? Off the deep end.

If we were still in the playoff hunt and were jobbed by the refs in this game, the twitterverse would be on fire. Oh wait...

Doubly frustrating is the duplicity and hypocrisy that governs NHL officiating gamesmanship.

Kent is getting Kentsy...

However, we’re getting ahead of our ref outrage. We have a period of winning hockey to play before the striped jobbers get their seconds of infamy.

1st Period

On the road against a team in the thick of playoff seeding. We know what that’s like. Or did a month ago. Anyways, our seed was stolen by the Faeries to feed their sick greed.

No matter. It’s still a ‘must win’. For Dallas. That automatically makes it a must really win for us.

The best way to win a road win is to get a lead. And the best way to get a lead is have a player with zero goals on his season goal card break his ducking luck in Dallas.

Enter the Schallersnipe.

Hard work on the forecheck by the world’s most expensive 4th line. (Yes, Loui’s playing). And fresh from the pressbox, Schaller swoops around the net and sees some daylight between the cheating Dallas goalie and the post. Boom!

It’s a 1-0 lead for the Nucks! On the road! (In the post game presser, Schaller would ruin the sniping narrative, but we’re not there yet).

A one goal lead. It’s not enough. We know that even 2 goal leads aren’t good enough either, but a 3 goal lead must start somewhere.

Why not with Brock and Pete. And yes, the sniping-hot Schaller.

Woooo! 2 nothing Nucks!

With the assist, Pete ties Pavel Bure and Ivan Hilinka for most points as a Nucks rookie.

Despite Dallas outshooting the Nucks 15-10 and looking dangerous on their PP, the Nucks are leading the game. And soon to be winning it with an insurmountable 3 goal lead.

2nd Period

Or so it seemed.

Pete is dangerous on every shift. None more so than on a breakaway where he is held and clung by Klingberg. It’s a penalty shot.

The game thread is having visions of a Petey deked Rinne.

Pete breaks in and we know we’re just a second away from a 3-0 lead and Pete to break the Nucks rookie points record.

And then the cheating Khudobin throws his stick at Pete and knocks the puck away.

NHL Rule 24.4: “The goaltender may attempt to stop the puck in any manner except by throwing his stick or any object.”

NHL Rule 24.4 violated. They will be punished.

Or not. Because, not only are the refs arrogant and incompetent, the War Room in Toronto is too drunk or disinterested to review the play and make the right call as they did when Ovi was a victim of a goalie stick tossing.

Won’t do the right thing, by your own rules, NHL, then we need to use our enforcers to send a message. Schaller delivers a message not even Guds would dare do. Throws the body on failed ref and person, Tim Peel.

Schaller is going on the NM Wall of Weekly Fame for his hit on the clueless ref.

A key part of sports is fair play within the rules. When the rules aren’t enforced consistently and dispassionately, then the game is gamed, the sport spoiled and the professed professionalism of a professional league is mere beer league.

Are the Nucks rattled? More importantly is the game thread? Yes and holy hell, Twotter will get twotted hard for this outrageous betrayal of official trust.

Anyhow, the game is forced to go on, because the Stars, the refs, the Toronto War Room are playing against the Nucks. Not a good time to play sit back hockey.

Until the last minute of play. The lead is safe. No need to play the puck deep and safe every change.

Or is there?

Yes, there is. A big Benn need indeed. Special Ed gets the screen assist.

Ugh. Not only getting jobbed and robbed by the incompetent, blind and/or biased refs and the capricious TO War Room, the home team is on the board and have that slimy, greasy thing called momentum to carry them into the intermission.

Shots in the period are even(ish) 12-11 for the team with cheating goalie. Cheater! Cheater! Shouted the game thread. Plus other visceral adjectives and nouns tossed at the pathetic officials of the National Hypocrisy League.

Actually the Nucks shot count was flattered by two minutes of power play time where the best revenge wasn’t served. Hot or cold. Dammit.

3rd Period

Ok, here’s the setup. Nucks are leading 2-1 when in a fair game they would be leading 3-0. But it’s the Nucks vs the Stars and Refs, so it’s not a fair game.

What to do? Keep pressing for the 3rd goal all over again? Or cling to the lead by playing in a defensive shell that keeps getting shelled?

What if I told you the Nucks were outshot 14-3 in the 3rd, FFS? Would that answer the question?

Yes, it would.

Still, the turtled-up hockey almost got across the regulation win line.

Of course, almost is not fully across. With 4 minutes to go, a scruffy goal is scored by Dallas. Should it have been goalie interference? Probably. There’s four players in Marky’s grill, but it doesn’t matter, since 2 of them are Nucks and 2 are Stars!

As the NHL and their officials desire, the goal stands, the Stars get a point, because the NHL doesn’t care about the other teams in the seedy Dallas district like Minni, St Louis or Colorado.

Not the spoiler we hoped the Nucks could be. Still...we can ensure it’s not a 2 point travesty of hockey play justice.

OT

In a twist of poetic license Radalov, Benn and Seguin don’t score in OT as expected. Instead, for the first time this season, the Stars are forced to face the indignity of getting shot out at home. Yay!

Shooting Stars Out

First 3 rounds of shooting by both sides are blanks.

Time for sudden death shooting. The first of the last round in the Dallas chamber is stopped by Marky. Which sets us up for some payback.

Because the NHL can’t even play by their own rules, and we can’t expect Texas to play by any rules, poetic frontier justice must be enforced by a lone Canuck puckslinger. It’s Leivotation Night in Texas, y’all.

Boom! Take that cheating slimeball goalies and their ref enablers. Justice is served. Late as usual.

Nucks win the shootout! For Marky! (Finally). For us! (Finally). For Hockey Frontier Justice!

Enjoy the 2 Johns with the long drawl-jowls.

Out Shooting Stars Stats

The Game’s Real Stars

From pressbox popcorn muncher to multi-goal scoring, ref-crunching hero in a single game, it’s the Schallersniper.

As noted by Tangent in the game thread:

Been MIA for a while but I can’t miss the start of the Tim Schaller era.

And confirmed by He Who Owns the Internet:

Schaller is our new Messiah - Westy

Let’s hear from the guy who went from zero to 2 goal hero in a single period.

Pete is happy about helping Schall, but finds NHL rule enforcement confusing.

The key words from the mobile Green room.

On the penalty shot Khudobin stick throwing debate:

”He did throw it.” - Coach Green

Was there an explanation?

”No.” - Coach Green

And what else can we say. Except really horrible things about the National Hypocrisy League and its official minions.

Enjoy your bush league playoffs, NHL. Expect the two refs for this game, Justin StPierre and Tim Peel won’t. Peel with 30 years of bad reffing on his cv has only worked 4 playoff games.

Wish there was more time to both enjoy the victory and the ref-focused outrage, but we can’t. Ok, we can, but just in 140 characters or less.

If only the league had the video technology available to pleb fans around the globe.

And access in the War Room to the NHL rule book. Oh..right...playoffs are starting soon, they’ve already thrown rule book away. Maybe they can get a new one printed in time for the pre-season, when the rules shall be enforced.

Anyhow.... the Nucks have already arrived in Chowtown for some B-2-B fun in the windy city. The Hawks have been on a bit of seedy streak with 5 wins to help push them below us in the lotto odds of Hugest destiny.

Enjoy your Monday afternoon ruined by either work or a road game.