The refs have been calling late penalties all postseason regardless of the score. They've called slashes like Hagelin's before.
When you consider the Rangers had the last two PP's in an away rink, you had to figure Caps were going to get the next one.
It was a dumb penalty for Hagelin to take. Richards' in Game 2 was a dumb penalty.
Hagelin was extremely disciplined in the regular season. He's lost control on two occasions and it cost the Rangers both times.
In the regular season, you can not show up against certain teams and just sneak into OT or a shootout. Not in the playoffs. The Rangers were pure trash all game. All we heard about their "elite" conditioning and "Camp Torturella" after game 3.....well, where the **** was it today?
Can you really not see that the Hagelin slash call was absurd in light of the fact that it was a blatant double-standard? I understand that these types of bad calls happen, but that doesn't make it any less inexcusable.
Bad day for the Rangers and honestly this could have easily been a 4-1 or 5-1 loss. Looks like this ones going 7 games also and at this point it's a coin toss.
Imagine if the Caps had scored in 3OT instead of Gabby.
This was a 2-2 game until the officials totally manufactured the circumstances to give the Capitals an advantage. The Rangers played far from great, but this was a 2-2 game until the referees took it into their own hands.
The perfect post.
It's not always about HOW the teams played. Teams can be alive on lucky goals or winning because of them. Contrarily, teams can be winning or losing because of bad goals. It doesn't actually matter HOW the Rangers played up until those final 6 minutes; it was a 2-2 game, that's the ONLY fact there is. The non-call on Boyle's stick chop, followed by the (virtually fan made) call on the Hagelin slash, followed by the non-call (as iffy as the Hagelin slash) on the Callahan trip, all coupled with the blatant Knuble delay of game makes this a game that, unfortunately, has its outcome decided by the officials, regardless of who, based solely on performance, "deserved" to win the game. The deserving team does not always come out on top. Heaven knows we've deserved games we lost and vice versa, there are games we may not have deserved that we might win. I personally thought we'd have had the momentum in those final 5 minutes/OT but the refs decided, at a crucial moment, that they wanted to INFLUENCE the outcome and I find that unacceptable. That call does not get made, based on the officiating through 50 previous minutes, without the help of the fans/the realization that Gaborik may have an opportunity from it. That's not how you call the game though; you don't call the RESULT, you call the ACTION.
why the f$$k is boyle on the ice taking faceoff after faceoff in the caps zone with under 2 minutes left...why the hell is boyle on the ice in the caps zone with 40 sec left...WTF torts?
Uh, Boyle is their best face off guy? You should know this as a Rangers fan.
Nothing is ever easy or comfortable in Rangerland.
This series is going 7 games.
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"I used to pray for good things . I used to ask the Hockey Gods for puck luck for the NYR .
Now all I want is Torts the smug stupid goatee clown to be fired , . I hate Torts . Please hockey gods make him get fired. Please Sean punch him in face" -- Dorado
This was a 2-2 game until the officials totally manufactured the circumstances to give the Capitals an advantage. The Rangers played far from great, but this was a 2-2 game until the referees took it into their own hands.
Yes, fully agree. That's an undeniable fact, and it's exacerbated by the fact that the Caps scored off that gifted advantage.
Should the Rangers have been good enough to kill it off? Yes, of course, but the bottom line is that they shouldn't have had to, because they shouldn't have been put in that position in the first place.
NBC told NHL that they wanted the game over by 3-3:15, because of Derby coverage....they only wanted obvious calls, not like the tripping of Callahan. NBC wanted no part of losing ratings for the Derby.
