5 day forecast
Penguins Notebook: Referee apologizes to Dupuis for high sticking call
Share with others:
BOSTON -- There was no question that Boston defenseman Steven Kampfer took a high stick in the face early in the second period of the Penguins' 3-2 victory Saturday against the Bruins at TD Garden.
The evidence was spilling all over the ice.
And the way referee Frederick L'Ecuyer saw it, at least initially, there also was no question that it was the stick of Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis that did the damage.
In reality, it was Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara who smacked Kampfer, something L'Ecuyer didn't realize until after he had assessed Dupuis a double-minor for high-sticking.
Although Dupuis eventually was able to make L'Ecuyer second-guess his decision -- "I yelled so much at him that he wasn't sure it was mine. I tried both languages, but it didn't work." -- that probably only spared him a major penalty.
Most of the Penguins weren't certain at first that the call would go against them, correctly or otherwise, because they had possession of the puck and play was allowed to continue.
"We just kept playing," Dupuis said. "We passed it back to the [defense], got a shot on net.
"We had the puck for five or six seconds before he blew the whistle. I thought he was calling something else."
Center Jordan Staal said L'Ecuyer eventually "said he made a mistake," but the Penguins didn't allow Boston to capitalize on the blown call.
"Our team did a great job of digging in," Staal said. "We didn't complain."
Penguins left winger Chris Kunitz's goal at 10:57 of the first period, when he went hard to the net and had a Staal pass bounce of his right skate and past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, was his 15th of the season, and fifth in the past six games.
"Quite a few have been tip-ins, or kick-ins, or whatever," Kunitz said. "If you go to that area of the ice, the puck tends to hit you."
Kunitz's goal was not official until a video review determined that he had not intentionally kicked the puck into the net. The only thing he did intentionally during that sequence, though, was to drive toward the Boston net.
"You're just trying to get to that area, and I was trying to slow down and stop," he said. "You definitely want to keep putting your body there. If they're going in, it means you're in a good area."
Sidney Crosby missed his fifth consecutive game because of a concussion and, according to coach Dan Bylsma, has not begun physical activity.
Crosby must be able to get through off-ice workouts without experiencing concussion-related symptoms before he gets clearance to participate in practices. He then must get through those practices without having any symptoms before he will be allowed to play in a game.
"He's got to be symptom-free, so every day he is evaluated," Bylsma said. "He's getting better and progressing, but he's not symptom-free yet."
The Penguins recalled forward Dustin Jeffrey from their Wilkes-Barre minor league club, but he did not dress for the game. Bylsma said Jeffrey was summoned as "insurance," in case another forward had been unable to play. As it was, defenseman Ben Lovejoy was the only Penguin who missed the game because of illness.
First Published January 16, 2011 12:00 am
