Now joining the ranks of Aaron Boone, 0.5 seconds, 2 blown leads vs. Big East teams, and countless shots/saves by opposing goalies hockey games, 0.2 and Jussi Jokinen have joined the ranks of epic sports heart breaks.
The point of this article is not to focus on the misery, however, and instead to plead, beg or slap fellow Devils fans across the face, and hopefully, get them to STOP crying about the "no call" at the end of the game.
There is no question Jokinen and goalie Martin Brodeur made contact as the pass was being made just prior to the shot. Replay shows it, everyone saw it, point there. The issue is whether or not there should have been a call or not.
Moments after the game, the NHL released the following statement:
Interpretation of goalie interference rule: New Jersey at Carolina - 19:59
of the third period - 04.21.2009 / 10:34 PM ET
The NHL's goalie interference rule sets a mandate to protect the goalie in the blue ice – to let the goalie do his job. In the white ice, it is a more delicate matter, including who moved into whom. The referee has one split-second look at it and it is a judgment call. NHL Hockey Operations has no video review capacity in this instance. Hockey Operations officials agreed with the call on the ice, that it looked like the goalie, Martin Brodeur, moved out toward the skater.
While it is true, the NHL almost never disagrees with the referees, I agree with the non-call.
My own personal reaction was that Brodeur moved into Jokinen's path to draw contact rather than focusing on the puck as it moved across the blue line. After watching the replay a few times, however, I feel it was more of a case of incidental contact and neither playing being at fault.
Regardless of my opinion, nor outsiders thoughts, we as a fan base need to move beyond it, right now.
It is no secret that referees in the Easter Conference playoff bracket have been exceptionally horrendous. One major factor, in my opinion, is not having one set of refs per series. But that is a different subject for a different post.
Devils fans, we need to stop making excuses and look at the positives that are coming from this game. We came out flatter than road kill in the first, and played just as bad for the second. We dug ourselves into a hole and it looked like we were on our way into getting slaughtered. But then we got a spark.
Brian Gionta took a long pass off the boards, turned it into a breakaway, and stole a little momentum before the end of the 2nd period.
That gave the Devils confidence, and they played like it in the 3rd period.
A powerplay goal by Brendan Shannahan made it a one goal game, with plenty of time to spare.
David Clarkson's goal with just under 10 minutes to go made it an entirely new hockey game.
The Devils had numerous chances, at least 5 or 6, to grab the lead, and either pushed the puck wide, got a bad shot off or Cam Ward made good saves.
In the end, it was their inability to clear the puck in the closing minute that caused the chance for the shot itself. If Paul Martin beats Jokinen into the corner after Brodeur's save, he might be able to clear the puck. If the wingers covering the point put a stick out before the shot, we head to overtime. If Mottau takes Jokinen to the left instead of pushing him right, blocked shot, go to overtime.
Too many what ifs happened following Clarkson's goal to be pinning the loss on a non-call with 0.2 seconds to go in the game.
Right now, we need to just take the positives of the spirited comeback and let that be the motivation to win by a multi-goal margin Thursday at the Prudential Center.
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