Power play, not the goal that wasn’t, is the story in Kings’ 5-3 win over Canucks
SkateGate?
Even a couple of Kings’ players thought Daniel Sedin’s goal was going to count, and were (pleasantly) surprised when it was waved off after a painfully long review lasting about six minutes Monday night at Staples Center.
In the end, there was one man’s opinion largely determining the matter and it was NHL vice president of hockey operations Mike Murphy saying that Sedin had kicked the puck in.
Murphy’s take, in an interview with the CBC after the Kings’ 5-3 win in Game 3, shed some additional light on his thinking behind the decision. Had Sedin’s goal stood, it would have cut the Kings’ lead to 4-3 early in the third period.
Some of his comments to the CBC were posted on the network’s website.
“When we looked at this one, we thought the puck was moving in one direction and in order to get it to move back in the other direction, it had to be propelled some way,” Murphy told the CBC.
“It wasn’t a deflection. It wasn’t a redirect, it was a kick…. To me, it looked like he twisted his toe and got a little more push on the puck and got it moving back the other direction.”
Sedin’s linemate and twin brother, Henrik, said he was surprised that officials even reviewed the goal.
“I thought it was a bad call,” Henrik said. “It’s tough to say, but it’s a very strange call….He [Daniel] is pretty skilled at playing soccer, but….”
Strange calls and conspiracy theories aside, woeful penalty killing is the true culprit, the real story behind the unraveling of the Canucks. The Kings had a 100% success rate on the power play in Game 3, scoring on all three of their opportunities.
And how often do you see that in the playoffs?
The Kings are seven for 12 on the power play against the Canucks in the three games. And Vancouver’s power play continues to sputter, going zero for four with the man advantage in Game 3.
“Special teams are killing us,” Daniel Sedin said. “We need to fix that tomorrow.”
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