Canadiens tie series; overcome biased officiating and where’s Crosby?

Despite being badly outplayed and outshot (26-9) during the first 40 minutes, the Montreal Canadiens overcame a 2-1 deficit in the third period by dominating the Penguins and scoring two goals in a 1:33 span. Maxim Lapierre, the best forward on the ice for Montreal, tied the game at 2-2 with a quick wrap-around goal that ricoched on Marc-Andre Fleury’s skate and found the back of the net. The game-winning goal was scored by Brian Gionta on a fluke goal that deflected off of Kristopher Letang’s skate and slid right past Fleury’s right pad.

Jaroslav Halak stopped 33 shots and was named the first star of the game (he’s been named the first star of the game in the Habs’ six post-season wins so far). Tom Pyatt also scored for the Canadiens. Maxime Talbot and Chris Kunitz scored 1:51 apart early in the first period to put Pittsburgh ahead.

But the real history of yesterday’s game was the brutal officiating of Paul Devorski and Eric Furlatt, who screwed up the Canadiens repeatedly over the course of the game:

• Ruslan Fedotenko grabs P.K. Subban’s legs at the Pittsburgh blueline to set up Maxime Talbot’s breakaway goal in the first period. No call.

• Sidney Crosby, the patron saint of the NHL, blatantly trips Roman Hamrlik during a Penguins mand-advantage that led to Chris Kunitz’s strange goal. No call.

• Mark Eaton tried to take off AK46′s head at the Pens blueline (interference/roughing/crosscheck). No call.

• Crosby’s stick is broken on a harmless Hal Gill tap. The player that whines to the refs all the time looks at the officials, who had not yet called a penalty, and all of a sudden Gill is called and the Habs, trailing 2-1, begin the third period shorthanded.

• Mathieu Darche was given a tripping penalty in the third period as we saw Maxim Lapierre in the background being tackled by the Pittsburgh defender five feet from the puck.

But the Canadiens players didn’t want to talk about it to avoid being fined by the NHL: “I don’t have many good things to say about that, so I’ll keep my mouth shut,” Gill said.

Even Don Cherry, who is an overt anti-Hab, called the referees on two of the penalties above.

A lot of hockey fans also complained of the same situation in the first-round series between Ottawa and Pittsburgh, but I didn’t see enough action to confirm the claim.

But Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun agrees with many journalists: “It’s a good thing the Habs came back to win this one, or it could have been a busy night for Montreal police. In a playoff season that has seen 27 too many men on the ice penalties called, the Habs had to beat not just the defending champions, but also two referees.”

Everyone saw the poor officiating yesterday, but can anyone tell me if Crosby is playing? I haven’t seen him since the beginning of the series, except when the play is stopped to whine at the officials. Crosby has not scored at Bell Centre for eight straight games since his first career-game in Montreal when he scored two goals… that was back in 2006.

Crosby has only three assists in four games during this series and he has been far from dominant and we haven’t seen him control the play like he usually does during the regular season. Hell, the other Penguins players don’t even give hime the puck on the power play, where Gonchar and Malkin mostly handle the puck.

Crosby is also building a reputation of being a cry baby: he broke his stick on the post to the left of Jaroslav Halak in Game 2 (should have been an unsportsmanlike penalty) and he started a scrum at the end of the second period in Game 3 after getting brushed with a stick. He grabbed his face and fell on the ice, but when no call came, he slashed Josh Gorges across the leg with his stick.

So, does Jacques Martin think Crosby is benefiting from the double standard afforded to the (best) player in the game by the NHL and their commissioner Gary Bettman when it comes to the officiating?

“That’s not for me to say. I think the league handles those situations,” said the coach. “You look at Crosby, those superstars, do they get a different treatment? You guys see a lot of games, you guys have your own opinions. I think that’s what’s meaningful.”

One thing is sure, Crosby will have to start playing hockey, and stop whining to the referees, if he wants his team to take a 3-2 lead Saturday in Pittsburgh against those Montreal Canadiens underdogs who are 4-2 on the road in the playoffs.