Game 59 - Penguins 4 Caps 5 (OT)

First of all – a great game. Played at a high level of intensity throughout, lots of physical play, excitement, goal-scoring, a hometown hat trick, an NHL record at stake – they really don’t get much better.

But I gotta say - NBC’s coverage of these games has become simply embarrassing.

This game already had a perfect storyline scripted: A home team winning streak of 13 games in pursuit of the NHL record of 17 held by the visiting Penguins – in a re-match of last year’s second round playoff battle featuring two of the best players on the planet.

What more could you ask for than that?

Instead we got Macguire and Emrick fawning over Crosby in a manner more reminiscent of Olympic female figure skating commentary.

[insert lame quotes about Crosby showing up ready to play and with fire in his eye and ready for something special here]

And endless nonsense about the bus ride and the Burger King stop.

We all know that the league has anointed Crosby as the second coming of Wayne Gretzky and is totally in the tank to present him as the face of the NHL as it tries penetrate the secondary markets in the US.

But doesn’t NBC have some obligation to present a balanced and honest telecast? Joe B and Locker could broadcast ten of those games and not be as one-sided for the Caps as those guys were for the Penguins – and they’re *allowed* to be homers.

If this is the price of market penetration then I would suggest it’s time to roll back the clock a bit. Break up the NASCAR division (and give the Caps more meaningful games against former Patrick Division rivals) and move the game back North.

I’ve always felt that Hockey was a regional sport and instead of trying to spread it across the sun belt the league should do a better job of leveraging the diverse media opportunities that are available in its core regions. But that's a rant for another day.

________________

What would the call have been if it was Crosby who sent head first into the boards on a hit from behind instead of Ovechkin?

I liked the sequence where Cindy got thoroughly worked over by Sarge on the PK - cue more fawning by the broadcast crew about how brave Crosby was to take the punishment and that what the great ones expect blah, blah - only to see Crosby go face to face with Schultz at the end of the period in a typical whinefest.

Nice phantom call by the refs on the Schultz "slashing" call with less than four minutes to go in a tie game. I know that those guys make tough calls all the time - but what does it say when the ref sees a stick break in half (happens at least eight times a game) and his response is to call a penalty that he could not have possibly seen happen?

At least Brooks "I have no respect for the kid" Orpick wasn't looking to blame himself for putting a stick into Semin's face - in overtime.

After a streak of pretty good games, Tom Poti came back to earth in a hurry.

Tyler Sloan is not an NHL defenseman and I shudder to think what might happen if he gets significant minutes in a Stanley Cup series against a fast, talented team. Same for Erskine.

Not a good game generally for the defensive corps and for the team's defensive play as a whole. As they've been inclined to do lately, however, they clamped down in the late stages of the game while still generating offense. Its a nice parlor trick but I'd still prefer sixty minute games.