TAMPA - Let's lay it all out up front.
The Lightning were the better team Monday night in their 4-2, Game 2 victory over the Bruins. The B's had a dreadful start for the second straight game, and, unlike in their 6-2 victory in Game 1, they never really recovered. The Bolts outshot the Bruins 31-20, they outhit them 42-24 while noticeably turning up the physical intensity, and the B’s had one funky goal allowed by Tuukka Rask in the second period.
All of that is true.
Even so, it’s getting to be truly mind-blowing watching NHL referees fall all over themselves in Stanley Cup playoff games the way they did in the final 20 minutes Monday night. Even hockey insiders as respected as Jeremy Roenick and Mike Milbury were talking about the "work" of refs Kelly Sutherland and Eric Furlatt:
The Bruins, obviously, have to be careful what they say about the officiating. But that didn't stop coach Bruce Cassidy from weighing in on the non-call when Anton Stralman slashed Brad Marchand across the hand as Marchand was breaking toward the net for the potential game-tying goal late in the third period.
“He slashed him right on the hands," said Cassidy. "I just think it’s unacceptable to miss that call. It’s right on the hands, so that should be automatic. It’s one thing if it’s a judgment call on the stick, but that one was on the hands . . . When it clearly hits him on the hands and then he clearly loses possession of the puck, then that should be an infraction.”
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“That’s a play that they called earlier in the game, and what they’ve called all year . . . a slash up on the hands,” said Marchand. “That’s an automatic penalty shot, let alone a penalty."
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That was the most egregious call, or non-call, of the night, but it wasn't the only one.
“We’re on the wrong side of three or four calls tonight that impacted the game," said Cassidy.
Such as . . .
-- In the middle of the third period, the referees slapped David Pastrnak with a four-minute double-minor for high sticking on a play where he clearly lifted Victor Hedman’s stick and it was Hegman's own stick that clipped him in the face, drawing blood. That forced the Bruins to kill a four-minute Tampa Bay power play while trailing by a goal.
-- Moments after the slash on Marchand, Dan Girardi cross-checked Pastrnak from behind into the end boards in another clear infraction that went uncalled, costing the Bruins a power play with a chance to tie.
-- And all this was after an extremely weak slashing call on Torey Krug in the first period -- you can see it in the video above -- that ended up leading to a power-play goal for the Lightning.
Still, the Bruins went back to saying the right things in the end.
"[We] need to play through that,” said Cassidy.
"t’s a tough one there, but we had some chances on the power play," said Marchand. "We just have to capitalize.”
So leave it to Roenick to tell it like it is . . . and give him a lot of credit for not pulling any punches.
“Tonight [the referees] deserve to get harped on of the rinky-dink calls in the first period where [the slash] hits the pads. It doesn’t even hit the stick,” said Roenick, alluding to the slashing call on Krug. “There was no scoring chance (when Krug was called for the penalty). How can you call that a penalty so early in a big playoff game?
"Then in the third period [the Bruins] have a chance with the most dangerous player on the ice to score a goal and tie it, and the slash is right on the hands to the most dangerous player on the ice on Marchand. That’s not a slash? That’s the definition of the new slashing rule.
“Then you have a cross-check by Girardi? How can none of these be called in the most crucial part of a hockey game in the playoffs? It’s unacceptable, it’s got to be better and it’s too inconsistent."
In private, the Bruins undoubtedly agree with everything Roenick said. But blasting the officials will do them no good.
Instead, they'll swallow the bitter pill of their own poorly executed play, some truly incompetent officiating, and a greater effort from a motivated Lightning crew. And they'll move on to Boston for Games 3 and 4.