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Let's see. Barret Jackman getting a crosschecking call while coming into a scrum to protect his goalie? Check. Alex Pietrangelo getting a phantom call? Yup. Robin Regher not getting called for boarding Ryan Reaves? Sure. All in all, how's the officiating going in this series, Jaxx?
To be fair, that's been my reaction at least once in every playoff game I've watched this year, Blues or not.
Actually, that was my reaction when the Blues jumped to a two goal lead - an open netter by David Backes and a power play goal by T.J. Oshie - and that was my reaction when they had surrendered two goals by the end of the first period. Consistency was not their strong suit to start this game off, though seeing them score those two goals like that was a great big boost to fans' confidence after watching them struggle to score this series.
Tack on another goal by Oshie to start the second period, and you have a variable scoring bonanza for this series. Oh, wait, did I say scoring bonanza? Do the Kings want on board?
Why yes, they do. And they scored two very quick goals in the third period to take the lead 4-3. St. Louis didn't have a shot on net until 8:49 of the third - they basically shut themselves down. The Blues had a chance to bring the series home for a win, and now the best they can do is hope to go back to LA leading 3-2. It's shades of the Cardinals' implosion against the Giants last year, except this one's almost kind of expected. If people wonder why Blues fans are conditioned to expect the worst, direct them to tonight's game.