Game four

I guess this series falls into the 30.6% of cases where a team takes a 3-0 lead but fails to finish the sweep on home ice in the fourth game, as the Hitmen post a come-from-behind 6-2 win to stave off elimination. One down, three to go!

The game was a lot closer than the score would indicate, as Kelowna was holding a 2-1 lead well past the midway mark of the 2nd period and it was still a 2-2 tie with three minutes left in the second. Calgary got two goals in the last three minutes of the 2nd and then another one midway through the third to salt it away, plus a meaningless late powerplay goal to finish the scoring. The Hitmen finished 3-for-4 on the powerplay, which is a huge improvement over the 0-for-10 they put up in the first three games.

The main story of the game tonight was Calgary's prolific offence finally made its first appearance of the series. After managing only three goals combined in the first three games, they doubled that output in game four alone. Funny thing is, I'm not sure they were doing anything different than what they did in the three losses, the passes & shots were just getting through and the pucks were going in tonight. I think Kelowna's defensive effort was maybe not quite up to the level it was in the earlier games, that could be part of the story here. Calgary had a lot more success tonight at penetrating to the front of the Rockets net, with five of the six goals scored from the slot to crease area, so I suspect the Rockets will be displeased with their failure to contain Calgary in that area like they did so easily in the three wins. And certainly Calgary's effort level couldn't be faulted tonight though (something that wasn't so true at times earlier in the series) and that has something to do with their offensive success too.

Martin Jones was outstanding in the Calgary net tonight too, the first time all series that he has outperformed his rival at the other end. Guggenberger was fairly ordinary tonight.

So, it's back to Calgary for game five tomorrow night. I hear the league is allowing the teams to fly for this trip, so no overnight bus ride will be required.

The question now is: was tonight an anomaly, or has Calgary really figured out how to beat the Rockets' defensive play? If it's the former, then the Rockets should probably close it out. But if it's the latter, we might have ourselves a suddenly interesting series.

Couple other notes.....

I was curious about the rule that allowed Calgary's 4th goal tonight to stand - the one where the player leaving the ice was hit by the puck, and his replacement then played the puck, keeping it in Kelowna's zone, eventually resulting in a goal. The referees ruled that Calgary did not commit a too many men on the ice infraction. So, I looked it up, and they made the right call.

This is rule 74.1 from the WHL's online rulebook:

74.1 Too Many Men on the Ice - Players and goalkeepers may be
changed at any time during the play from the players’ bench provided
that the player or players leaving the ice shall be within five feet (5') of
his players’ bench and out of the play before the change is made.
...
If in the course of a substitution either the player(s) entering the
play or the player(s) retiring is struck by the puck accidentally, the play
will not be stopped and no penalty will be called.

So, since both Calgary players were within five feet of the bench, it was a legal substitution. And since the player who was leaving the ice had his back turned when he was hit by the puck, it was clearly an accidental touch of the puck and therefore the play should not be stopped and no penalty assessed.

So there....sometimes the refs do get the rule right, even when many of us think they got it wrong.

Also, in regards to the disallowed Kelowna goal in the first period, it was obvious on the replay that the whistle was not blown prior to the Rockets scoring, which caused some more confusion. But it turns out the refs got this one right too:

32.2 Disputes - The Referees shall have general supervision of the game
and shall have full control of all game officials and players during the
game, including stoppages; and in case of any dispute, their decision
shall be final.

As there is a human factor involved in blowing the whistle to stop
play, the Referee may deem the play to be stopped slightly prior to the
whistle actually being blown. The fact that the puck may come loose
or cross the goal line prior to the sound of the whistle has no bearing if
the Referee has ruled that the play had been stopped prior to this
happening.

So the ref is allowed to say that the play officially stops a few seconds BEFORE he blows the whistle. If he sees an infraction and is unable to blow the whistle to stop play before a goal is scored by the offending team, he is allowed to disallow the goal despite the whistle not having been blown in time. Which is exactly what happened - Grantham was getting a penalty and the Rockets scored before the ref could blow the whistle.

So again, a good call from the refs here.