Friday, October 5, 2007

2-0

Well, it wasn't a work of art, but the Sens got two games from the Leafs.  Ottawa looked a little loose defensively at times, which is typical for October.  Good thing Gerber was up to the task, with 40+ shots.  Bottom line, they got the wins.  Power play looked a lot better this time around.  Toskala made some pretty nice stops.  Justin's haul from Heater/Alfie: 3 goals, 1 assist, 2 ppg, 1 gwg.
 
I am wondering about the officiating this year. 1.) They mentioned cracking down on goalie contact, and Gerber got a very quick whistle after Blake came hard into the crease. Toronto scored after the whistle. Goal disallowed  2.) Heatley definitely directed a puck into the net with a skate.  No "destinct kicking motion".  Goal allowed.  3.) Vermette got hauled down from behind in a manner that would have been a penalty shot two seasons ago.  No call.
 
I am not a fan of too much goalie contact. Directing the puck in with the skate is cheesy. If a guy is standing still and it goes off his skate, into the goal; that's fine. There was a big variation in how the "kicked-in" goals were called last year. I guess the bottom line is consistency. They simply need to call it the same all year. There were still a lot of 'obstruction' penalties called, which shows a nice carry-over from the last two seasons. 

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