Henrik Voices His Disappointment With The Non-Call

USA Today- The game turned on a play 1:58 into the third when Dwight King ran directly into goalie Henrik Lundqvist, both skates in the crease, and prevented Lundqvist from moving to his right as Matt Greene’s shot came toward the net. King tipped the puck through Lundqvist, who complained loud and long that goalie interference should have been called.
“I’m extremely disappointed on that call or non-call,” Lundqvist said. “They’ve got to be consistent with that rule.

Everyone saw the game last night, we all know what happened in terms of officiating and what was and was not called throughout the game. Having slept on it and dealt with my disappointment at losing this game in a mature, responsible manner (I threw a tantrum, smoked, and ordered a pizza), I am officially of two minds on my minds of the call.

The Rational Hockey Fan: Bad calls happen in hockey. They happen in sports. You have to leave no room for error for the officiating to swing a game against you in a must-win finals game on the road. Fact of the matter is the Rangers blew a two-goal lead (twice), had two power play opportunities and a breakaway to put it away in overtime, and plenty of scoring chances in the third period to put this game away. Yes it was a bad call and a bad break, but the Rangers have no one to blame but themselves for putting themselves in the position to allow an official to help decide the game.

The Slightly Less Rational Rangers Fan: That call was complete and utter bullshit. It singlehandedly gave the Kings a goal and forced an overtime when it should have been a simple regulation victory for the Rangers. Everyone in their right mind watching that goal knew immediately it was goalie interference, the referee was in the perfect position to make that call, and they had already called goalie interference AGAINST the Rangers a few minutes earlier on a less blatant move. Whether the Rangers should have won the game or not anyway is immaterial; the fact of the matter is they did not, and a large part of that is because of a call made by a referee which stands against everything sports is and should be about. Players should decide games, not refs, and the refs by not blowing the whistle on that interference basically handed the Kings the tying goal. That ref should never be able to call another Stanley Cup again and probably be forced to be waterboarded by Alain Vigneault.

So which one is right? Honestly, crazy as it may sounds, I think both are equally valid points of view. You can argue till you’re blue in the face that the Rangers were completely and utterly screwed, and you can scream at the top of your lungs that it’s their own fault for being in the position where a ref could decide the game for them, and I wouldn’t disagree with you either way. The only thing that’s certain is that the series is now 0-2 headed back to the Garden and everyone and their mother, including by spirit animal John Buccigross, is counting the Rangers out. While I admit things don’t look good, count this team out at your own peril. If there’s anything these playoffs have taught us, it’s this: Don’t leave the door open against this team. I repeat, Do NOT leave the door open against this team.

I Believe.

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