In Lou We Trust

Hey, that third period was pretty dang good for New Jersey. If only they can treat all three periods that way, they'd be in business. Also, Oduya has clearly found and read a book called "How to Be an Effective #4 Defenseman." No word on whether or not it was written by Bruce Driver. Seriously, he played very well.

A loss in the shootout isn't something to cheer for, but earning 7 out of 8 points against a stingy Buffalo team this season is worth some praise, right?

NITPICKING ASIDE: Jason Pominville's goal that put Buffalo up 2-0 in the second period went off his skate from a thread-needling pass by Daniel Paille. Nothing wrong with that, them's the breaks. However, I am baffled about the call that led to the faceoff prior to that play. Karel Rachunek was called for an intentional offside up in Buffalo's zone, which means a faceoff at the other end. This is indeed an actual rule in the NHL Rulebook, rule 83.6 - to prevent teams from going offside just to get a stoppage in play. This rule clearly states that the decision is up to the linesman.

However, how in the world did he (the linesman) think Rachunek played the puck out of the zone and fired it back in just to get a stoppage? To me, from what I saw on TV, Rachunek was trying to keep it in and fired it right back in prior to realizing it went all the way out. The rest of the skaters were still in the zone as the puck was simply fired up the boards prior to it getting to Rachunek. I'm not saying Buffalo shouldn't have had their goal - they earned it - but I'm still baffled by the call that led to the faceoff prior to that. Do any of you have an explanation as to why the linesman thought Rachunek committed intentional offside? Because I have no idea why he even made that call at all.