Enough is Enough: New York Rangers 4, Detroit Red Wings 3

Nov 5, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser (65) and New York Rangers left wing Rick Nash (61) chase after the puck during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

I hate to be the guy that is ALWAYS complaining about the refs, but this year the officiating has been worse than I can ever remember. The standard of officiating has reach a dangerously and embarrassingly low standard. It’s gotten to the point where it’s deciding games on a nightly basis. Detroit’s 6-3-4 record should be much better. Detroit’s only deserved regulation losses were against Philly last night versus Ottawa. You can argue that the refs aren’t entirely at fault, and that’s fair. But when a team comes back and fights through bad call after call, and they’re STILL made and deciding games, the bad calls can definitely be brought into question. Let’s take a look at this dumpster fire of a loss:
NYR Goal – 6:36 1st – Nash, asst: Brassard, Hunwick

Nothing really special about this goal. Nobody’s to blame here; the Rangers set up the diamond on the power play. Nash gets the puck at the point and rips a slapper through a heap of traffic in front of Gustavsson who had no chance.

NYR Goal – 6:39 2nd – St. Louis, asst: Hunwick, Kostka

Bad coverage by Smith and Quincey for this goal. Hunwick had the puck in his own zone and saw Martin St. Louis drifting at center ice. Receiving the pass, he split Detroit’s D, and slid one past Gustavsson’s left side, who was doing some weird and exotic goaltending maneuver. It didn’t work, and St. Louis wiped the snot and tears from his face and celebrated while his distraction from his Olympic snubbing eliminated his whiny dry-heaving.

DET Goal – 12:02 2nd – Kindl, asst: Sheahan, Franzen

After 200+ straight minutes of not scoring on the best goaltender in the league, somehow, SOMEHOW Jakub Kindl is the one to break the streak, and I really hope his trade value skyrocketed after the goal. Kindl’s wrist shot from the faceoff dot found a soft spot through some traffic and Detroit was back in the game.

Nov 5, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Detroit Red Wings left wing Drew Miller (20) checks on goalie Jonas Gustavsson (50) after an injury after the overtime period at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers defeated the Red Wings 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

DET Goal – 12:15 2nd – Cleary, asst: Miller

Now HERE is where the calls started to go sour. 15 seconds after Kindl’s goal, Cleary shoots the puck from the left-side boards and somehow trickles over the King. The puck sinks into the mesh, and floats back out. Somehow, somehow, SOMEHOW the referee standing RIGHT behind the net and STARING at it had no idea it ever crossed the goal line. Play continued for another solid two minutes before the play was reviewed and Detroit was rewarded a goal. Even though the Wings were righted, it is so frustrating so see such a simple, easy call go right over a ref’s head. It showed where their heads were for the rest of the game.

NYR Goal – 12:10 3rd – Stempniak, asst: Moore, Kreider

This goal shouldn’t have happened. The Wings should have at least carried the game into overtime with momentum, but instead the plans were once again thwarted by the referees. A few moments before the goal, DeKeyser was preparing for an outlet pass, and was clearly high-sticked from behind. The d-man fell to the ice with blood pouring from his face, and of course, there was no call. Every referee should be watching this play transcend because DeKeyser had posession of the puck. Instead of being a 4-minute power play, the Wings gave up a 2-on-1 and surrendered a goal from Stempniak.

DET Goal – 19:52 3rd – Tatar, asst: Nestrasil, Kindl

Thankfully, the Wings were able to scavenge a point from this rotten carcass of a tilt. Nestrasil made and INCREDIBLE pass to a wide-open Tatar in the slot through the remainder of both teams, and the Slovak made no mistake in putting it in the back of the net. On the power play with Gustavsson pulled, the Red Wings tied the game with under 8 seconds left.

NYR Goal – 1:50 Overtime – Brassard, asst: Girardi, St. Louis

Why not settle the game on a power play that wasn’t deserved? Datsyuk had the puck in front of the Rangers’ net, and had to hang on to it while fighting off a couple defensemen. Even though Datsyuk’s stick wasn’t making contact with the puck, he was still considered to be in possession of it when St. Louis came flying in and attempted a somersault over Datsyuk’s stick. Point 1: Terribly weak call considering Datsyuk had possession, and 2: Somehow St. Louis wasn’t called for embellishment after the awful embellishment call on Abdelkader, when hooked by- you guessed it- St. Louis. Brassard picked the puck up off of a rebound with an open net and ended the game. And just like that, the Wings didn’t finish the game in the fashion that they deserved. Again.

FINAL OT- New York Rangers 4, Detroit Red Wings 3

3 Positives to Take From the Game

-Detroit doesn’t quit. Another fantastic comeback, even after suffering horrible officiating. Detroit could have easily lost in regulation, but the team is always improving throughout the game.

-Kindl is starting to suck less, so that’s good. Notching some points and playing solid defense. Keep bringing that trade value up, baby

-The Red Wings FINALLY scored on the Rangers. I honestly can’t remember the last game Detroit was able to put the puck in the net.

My 3 Stars of the Game:

3. Third star goes to Nestrasil solely for the amazing setup on the tying goal with 8 seconds left. He just proved that he deserves to be on this roster. He’s been more solid in the games following his first career call-up than many rookies that I’ve seen in this system, and he looks better and better every night.

2. Gustavsson stood on his head and made some fantastic saves to keep Detroit in the game. Didn’t really have a chance on any of the goals, and sacrificed his shoulder on the winning goal. His save on Nash was ridiculous, as well

1. Good job referees, for deciding this one. Slow start or not for Detroit, they got robbed again.

Referees are humans, although it may be hard to believe. And humans make mistakes. I’m not expecting officiating to be perfect every night. But when you’re making blatant wrong-calls across the entire league, and you’re deciding every-other game, something has to change. The no-call on Getzlaf, the no-goal for Datsyuk, the interference calls against Glendening and Franzen, whatever was going on tonight- there’s no consistency at all. It looks like the refs are calling whatever they feel, whenever they want. Just make the right call, whether it takes increased training, focus, coach’s challenge; just make the right call. Officiating cannot be this big of a factor this early. And Wings’ fans aren’t the only ones that think so.