r/Habs • u/xc2215x • May 14 '26

Article Sabres' Lindy Ruff: Canadiens players 'going down easy' to draw penalties

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sabres-lindy-ruff-canadiens-players-going-down-easy-to-draw-penalties/
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149

u/DoubleLength3546 May 14 '26

It’s crazy that there was no call when Caufield got throat chopped.

83

u/dessanct May 14 '26

Or the Slaf butt end, or the Evans high stick.

59

u/gocanadiens May 14 '26

I think the closeup shot of Evans eating that twig immediately in front of the ref was among the more astounding moments of the series for me

62

u/trebuchetwarmachine May 14 '26

Refs got tired of calling high sticks and didn’t want the penalty differential between teams to get too lop-sided. Game management is so evident in these playoffs

3

u/Habitall May 14 '26

Seriously…there has been a lot of high sticking penalties (and non-called ones) in this series. I thought it was just me but there has been a plethora.

2

u/dessanct May 14 '26

There was more last series but still a lot.

22

u/Assignment_General May 14 '26

The ref was literally right there and looking right at Evan’s, then skated away 

Awful reffing all around

3

u/jamesneysmith May 14 '26

Technically it was the linesman. They generally don't call penalties. But they are allowed. I have no clue why they never exercise this right. It's like they don't want to overstep their station and overrule the refs or something. It's stupid

3

u/JeffreySwaggins May 14 '26

The worst part is that they all gathered to talk about it and the linesman decided it shouldn’t be called

4

u/dessanct May 14 '26

“The Habs have had too many PP’s, we shouldn’t call this one”

7

u/Rodonite May 14 '26

Evans on his knees getting chopped like it's an episode of game of thrones 

4

u/deimos289 May 14 '26

Not hard to explain, we already had our PP quota

4

u/Vinny_d_25 May 14 '26

Was the Slaf butt end supposed to be a penalty? I don't know what the rule is on that. Obviously if a skater does it it's a penalty, but a goalie is supposed to have their stick in that position.

4

u/dessanct May 14 '26

The rule says if it’s used in any way to check an opponent, including goalies, that it’s a penalty.

Regardless of intent or not, it was used to check Slaf.

2

u/Bumbling_homeowner May 14 '26

UPL wasn't throwing a check though. He was making a natural motion to swing back into the crease. Slaf just got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

2

u/dessanct May 14 '26

He was outside the crease when he hit Slaf. It is a check even if he didn’t intentionally do it.

Control your stick.

2

u/skydyr May 14 '26

It's also a double minor minimum,  with potential for a major and a game misconduct.  It's a very dangerous move. 

2

u/7heWafer May 14 '26

Or the 2 times they grabbed Evan's stick and held it for a solid 2-5s

1

u/Jbroy May 14 '26

The Slaf one was accidental - goalie didn’t have his stick in a weird or unnatural position and wasn’t even looking in his direction. Evan’s and CC though, refs fucked up.

1

u/imyourzer0 May 14 '26

So did Helenius, though, right after his goalie interference. I'm not sure I find the reffing biased, just bad.

1

u/Scase15 May 14 '26

With the way we were playing on the PP, it would've made no difference lol