From Dave Staples of the Edmonton Journal:
NHL refs call ticky tack fouls for minor and inconsequential stick infractions all year long, but when it really matters, they refuse to call crucial obstruction penalties, and that’s why Pittsburgh failed to come back and tie the game on the Penguin’s five-on-three powerplay in the third period Saturday night.
Detroit ace Henrik Zetterberg laid the lumber on Sidney Crosby at the side of the net, tying up his stick far before Crosby ever got the puck, thus making it next to impossible for Crosby to score when Marian Hossa put a perfect pass right on his stick, with a wide-open net staring at Crosby.
It was the kind of non-call the NHL is infamous for. Unlike any other major North American pro league, where a foul is a foul is a foul is a foul no matter what the score and what the import of the game or when it occurs in the game, the NHL’s definition of a penalty constantly shifts.
Here is the entire entry from Cult of Hockey.
I have to disagree with Staples here. I thought Zetterberg’s play on Crosby was solid defensive hockey. He anticipated the play, and prevented Crosby from tying the game by getting in the way of his stick. In my mind, there was nothing about that play that would have warranted a penalty call. For the most part, I have been impressed with the refereeing so far in the Finals.
