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Horrendous officiating dominates game

Devils 5 – Blackhawks 3 (en) In a game where only four penalties were whistled a fan wonders how the officials could influence the outcome of the game so dramatically.

When the announcers on TNT which hosts Wednesday Night Hockey not only complain that there was no penalty on the initial penalty called but kept harping on it, so obvious to those of us watching that it should not have been called.

But the nail in the coffin was the last penalty whistled against a Chicago player who was defending young Center Bedard who was literally being shoved/pushed/crosschecked while lying on the ice, the ensuing New Jersey power play scored.

This on the heels of a prior game where Center Bedard was issued an “abuse of an official” penalty because of something he said that hurt the Referees feelings.

Referees and Linesmen have one of the most difficult positi0ns in all of sports professional and amateur, from a young age 14- and 15-years old officials in minor leagues are even abused by fans.

I am always willing to give the on-ice officials the benefit of the doubt, but some Referees make that very difficult to believe that they are using their best judgement without any bias.

Around the League

Canucks 5 – Islanders 2 (en) Both teams are competing for the last wild card seeding in their respective Conferences and after a scoreless first period the Canucks and Islanders combined for 24 SOG and a 2-2 tie during the second period of play.

Vancouver scored quickly in the third period forcing New York to pull their goaltender and with two minutes remaining in the game the Canucks get the empty net score.

Stars 4 – Oilers 3 Dallas and Edmonton are keeping ahead of the wild card hopefuls in the Western Conference as Stars LW Robertson scored a natural hat trick in a nine and half minute stretch during the second period that contributed to a 4-0 Dallas advantage heading into the third period.

Edmonton roared back in the third period and after scoring three times to get within one goal of the Stars with 95 seconds remaining in the game, Edmonton could not score that fourth goal.

Ducks 6 – Bruins 2 Anaheim’s victory gets them within one game of playing 500% hockey and unfortunately for the Eastern Conference Boston Bruins they remain mired in 13th place.

Buffalo Beats Ottawa Again!

Sabres 3 – Senators 2 Referee Wes McCauley on average whistles power plays 53% of the time for the home team, not last night as the Eastern Conference number one wild card seeded Senators enjoyed a 4-1 imbalance of power play opportunities.

Head Coach Travis Green of Ottawa in a fit of delusion said that ” It’s easy to say, probably might easily win this game seven times out of 10.”, which is difficult to understand since Buffalo has beaten Ottawa for third time in their four game season series (Buffalo outscoring Ottawa 12-3) with game four on April Fool’s Day.

Former Sabres Center Cozens had the secondary assist on Ottawa’s first goal and was quoted, “I really wanted to win that game”, to the press in the locker room after the loss to his former team.

Former Senators defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker tied the game scoring his first goal for Buffalo with seven minutes remaining in the second period, and was quoted, “It feels just unreal to be on the ice, honestly,” Bernard-Docker said. “I’ve had a tough year kind of prior to this, kind of just grinding and lots of skates by myself and work in the gym. It feels good to be back into games so yeah, it’s fun.”, …no revenge or negative remarks towards Ottawa.

Lindy Ruff becomes only the second coach in NHL history to win 600 games with the same team, putting him alongside legendary Stanley Cup Champion Head Coach Al Arbour.

Next up…a non-playoff team in the Pittsburgh Penguins are here along the Lake tomorrow night at seven o’clock.

Last week’s answer: Defenseman Mike Ramsey

At times a franchise can retire too many numbers, for example the Buffalo Sabres retired number #30 for Goaltender Ryan Miller, who was a very good goaltender and an upstanding young man.

Curious as to why because he did not bring any Stanley Cup championships to Buffalo, and just about the only thing fans remember about Goaltender Miller is that he was bowled over by LW goon lucic.

How many numbers have the Buffalo Sabres retired?

A) 5

B) 6

C) 7

D) 8

Spoiler Sabres Stop Jets from clinching playoffs

Sabres 5 – Jets 3 (en) Winnipeg fans were primed for an easy win against a team fourth from the bottom of the League but Sabres Goaltender Reimer who allowed the high-flying Jets one power play goal on three attempts and eventually stopped 33 of 36 SOG had other plans.

RW Tuch scored his fourth shorty bringing Buffalo’s total to six shorthanded goals thus far, interesting that in nine seasons RW Tuch had scored three shorthanded goals before scoring four for Buffalo this season.

Buffalo’s Center McLeod had a career game with one goal and three assists for his first four-point single game total joining four other Sabres who also earned four-point games this season.

The Sabres can ride the rush of victory against one of the best teams in the NHL as they come home for two games versus Ottawa and Pittsburgh this Tuesday (25th at 7pm) and Thursday (27th at 7pm).

Buffalo Sabres Scored

Wild 4 – Sabres 1 (en) RW Peterka scored his 21st goal assisted by defensemen Power (29) and Dahlin (41), and that concludes the positive spin on last night’s game.

The Sabres managed to score one goal in their two game regular season series with the playoff bound Minnesota Wild and that came seven minutes into the third period of the second game.

And if that is not bad enough the Sabres have to play the Winnipeg Jets this afternoon at three o’clock, the Jets already have earned 100 points and are legitimate Cup contenders while Buffalo hopes for a high draft pick in the upcoming lottery seems solidified.