Robbery in Raleigh! Doumit to DL!

The Carolina Hurricanes are doing their job,if the referees did theirs,the Devils and Hurricanes might still be playing.
Since they didn't and swallowed their whistles on what proved to be the second Carolina goal of the night that was aided by goaltender interference,Carolina's Jussi Jokinen's deflection beat Marty Brodeur with just two tenths of a second before a potential overtime for a 4-3 Carolina win and tied the series at two games apiece.
Carolina raced to an early 3-0 lead and controlled the contest until a late second period Brian Gionta goal put the Devils on the scoreboard.
Brendan Shanahan and David Clarkson each scored in the third period to tie the game and set up the controversial ending.

Hell Raisers

1) Check out the clip below at 27 seconds for the wipeout on Chad LaRose's goal (which was the worse of the two) and at a bit over the minute mark for the game winner.
Marty's reaction after the game and in the locker room sums it all up.


2) So you think I am a disgruntled Devils fan today?
True,but read this from the actual NHL Rulebook,which is used on occasion from what I have been hearing.

69.1 Interference on the Goalkeeper - This rule is based on the premise that an attacking player’s position, whether inside or outside the crease, should not, by itself, determine whether a goal should be allowed or disallowed. In other words,goals scored while attacking players are standing in the crease may, in appropriate circumstances be allowed. Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal; or (2) an attacking player initiates intentional or deliberate contact with a goalkeeper, inside or outside of his goal crease. Incidental contact with a goalkeeper will be permitted, and resulting goals allowed, when such contact is initiated outside of the goal crease, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact. The rule will be enforced exclusively in accordance with the on-ice judgement of the Referee(s), and not by means of video replay or review.

Watch the replay,does it look to you that Jokinen was attempting to get out of the way in any way,shape or form?

3) More complaining.
A comment over at In Lou We Trust that I cannot find right now brings up an interesting thought on why it wasn't called.
Could it be that the arbiters saw the play,thought the game was going to overtime and didn't want to handicap either team with a penalty kill to start OT?
Perhaps,but if that is so,the game isn't called that way.
So many officials in different sports get themselves into trouble by trying to anticipate what WILL happen instead of calling what DID happen.

4) As much as the Devil comeback was exciting and I will always feel that the Devils would have won this one as Carolina was stunned and on their heels,they played two lousy periods of hockey.
They should have never had to make such a comeback to begin with.

5) Bryce Salvador left the game in the second period after a Hurricane fell on his knee during a net scrum.
Not a dirty play,just one of those freak things that happen.
Salvador's status for Game 5 is unknown.

Bonus Rounds

Look for Marty Brodeur to be fined for his post game comments about the "terrific"job that the officials did in the contest.
Honesty hurts sometimes,Bettman!

We state this SO often, but Brodeur's defensemen are allowing these tactics around the net.
I don't blame Carolina,I blame the Devils for not stopping them.
With the exception of Bryce Salvador and maybe (Only a maybe) Colin White,none of the other guys attempt to move guys out and do anything about this.

Niclas Havelid has been awful in this series,If I was Brent Sutter,I would consider Andy Greene (Faster skater) or Jay Leach (Far more physical) to dress in Game 5 in place of Havelid.

The Pirate squeaked by the Florida Marlins 3-2 in Pittsburgh behind six solid innings from winner Jeff Karstens (1-0).
The Pirates scored single runs in each of the first three innings.
Freddy Sanchez hit his second homer of the season and Matt Capps shut down the Marlins in the ninth for his 4th save of the season.
The teams finish the series today at 12:35 as the Pirates prepare for a six day road trip that takes them to San Diego and Milwaukee.

Pirate Hooks

The big news of the day was the loss of Ryan Doumit for the next eight to ten weeks to wrist surgery.
Jason Jaramillo will share time with Robinzon Diaz,who was recalled from Indianapolis following Doumit's placement on the DL.
The power loss will be huge for the Pirates,but so will the leadership as Doumit was beginning to grasp the reigns of team leader.

This will be a huge chance for both of the catchers to prove their worth as everyday players.
The Pirates would love nothing more than for one of them to bust out and prove their capabilities of being every day players and become a valuable trading chip.

Not very many Pirate hooks as I missed the game,the downside to my new hours that start on 5/3 is that I will miss the end of some games as I go and will have to finish on the XM bird.
Radio baseball is terrific and is the best game for the audio wave,but you depend on what someone is telling you and it makes it tough to have concrete opinions sometimes on things that you don't see.

Pitching Matchup
Florida:Ricky Nolasco (1-1 6.60 ERA) at Pittsburgh:Paul Maholm (2-0 0.87 ERA) 12:35

Bullpen Notes

Question-Do the Detroit Lions have any clue at all?
Name me any business that sets a all time record for ineptitude,keeps the person in charge in charge for years longer than anyone can figure out why and then when you do fire that person replaces him with the individual that was his assistant in creating the mess.....

And finally,I have always been a huge fan of Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express.
Actually,not sure if I have ever met a bigger fan,but Cornette now has a website (kinda surprising from an avowed PC hater) and his latest post spells out my feelings on why Pro Wrestling (with the exception of NOAH from Japan,thanks Brandon) is unwatchable.
Cornette is on the mark as usual.

Photo Credits
Hockey:Karl DeBlaker-AP Photo
Gload:Gene Puskar-AP Photo