Refs letting them play.

The conversation about the NHL officiating is starting to come up again during the Redwings and Penguins series. The officials have been consistent in this series, however, it's my opinion that the refs have slacked off calling the obstruction. Kind of going back to the philosophy that its a penalty in the regular season but not during the playoffs. That being said both teams are getting away with a lot more obstruction and stick work than they could if they were playing a regular season game. Obstruction or not obstruction if the Penguins don't worry about playing hockey this series will be over this week.

Last year when the Penguins fell behind the Detroit Red Wings, 2-0, in the Stanley Cup final, then-coach Michel Therrien commented on the subtle obstruction and interference that Detroit players were committing against his players.

In addition to the déjà vu element of being down, 2-0, to the Red Wings again in this year's Stanley Cup final, the Penguins are encountering the same type of obstruction and interference by the Red Wings, who, it seems, are being allowed by the officials to toe that fine line between good defense and committing a penalty.

For the most part, the officials in Games 1 and 2 have ignored obstruction and interference penalties. A total of 10 penalties have been called, but five of those were assessed in the waning seconds of Game 2 Sunday night after the altercation between Evgeni Malkin and Henrik Zetterberg. And only one interference penalty has been called during the finals, with Malkin being assessed that penalty in Game 2.

Two non-calls came back to haunt the Penguins in Game 2 when the Red Wings scored goals as a direct result of plays where the referees could have easily sent Red Wings players to the penalty box.

The Red Wings scored their first goal Sunday night when Mikael Samuelsson interfered with Malkin after a draw in the Penguins' zone. That allowed defenseman Jonathan Ericsson to have an open shooting lane from the blue line to tie the score at 1-1.

The Red Wings scored the winning goal when Marian Hossa hooked Pascal Dupuis and then broke the stick as Dupuis attempted to leave the defensive zone. Hossa retrieved the puck, and a few seconds later, Valtteri Filppula threw a backhand over Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for a 2-1 lead.

But if the Penguins are steamed at the quality of officiating through two games, they are not letting on.

"They don't call a lot of the [penalties], but it's fine," defenseman Kris Letang said. "It's both ways. I think [the officiating] has been pretty good so far."
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