Everything was going so great for Nashville. Everything. Nashville had a 1-0 lead, was pounding Colorado was shots, and Winnipeg was taking advantage of shoddy officiating against the Blues. Plus, Minnesota was boring the UC to death.
Then, it happened.
Preds Lose to Colorado
How they lost:
Watch what happens here.
Ekholm loses an edge, and the recovery is terrible by the other players. Fisher panics, and leaves the left side open. It’s only Jarome Iginla, who ranks right up there with Marian Hossa with the all-time Pred killers. Fine. That’s a good goal. Avs took advantage of a serious break. Good for them.
But what happened next was inexcusable.
Ryan O’Reilly launched a shot from Fort Collins. Joey Hishon’s goal was equally bad. Sure, we want to blame the Gaustad “contact.” It should’ve been a goal for the Preds. But jeez… giving up goals from that far out is not the most inspiring sight.
Okay here’s the Varlamov slip.
here is what should have been the go-ahead goal but was called off by the refs because … well, just because pic.twitter.com/87miGMoEtQ
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) April 8, 2015
Yes, that should have counted. But if you’re depending on a goaltender slipping and falling to make the difference in a game that the team needed to win to secure the division, you’re avoiding the other problems.
Luckily, very little damage was done in the grand scheme of things.
Blues Lose to Winnipeg
How they lost:
Well, when you only score 1 goal against Winnipeg who is playing on the second half of a back-to-back, I don’t want to hear excuses either.
Well, technically they were shut out buuuttttt………
Tyler Myers could play for the Knicks. No way he should be dropping his stick like that. However, he sold it like Billy Mays and got the call which negated the goal. Smart move, I guess. Blues fans were also angry about T.J. Oshie’s penalty late in the game as well. So certainly, you expect the calm and measured St. Louis Blues to respond accordingly, right?
another look at Backes on Sgtuart…ref is blocking it, which is evidence that the ref looked right at it &did nothing pic.twitter.com/kd6BxFCz4n
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) April 8, 2015
Not a good idea, especially since the Jets are down Dustin Byfuglien for a while for a similar deed.
Blackhawks Lose to Minnesota
How they lost:
Minnesota do what they do. The Wild had all of 11 offensive zone starts, and still managed to limit shots on the net. And one thing the Minnesota does exceptionally well is play on the counter. Exhibit A:
It may be absolute torture to watch for most of the game, but they know what they have and know how to win using it. Jason Zucker scores the clincher before Chicago adds one in garbage time.
So to say things fell into place for Nashville was a gross understatement. Even the Kings dropped the ball against the OILERS. THE OILERS.
It could be worse.
LOL.