Dubnyk was making his second start since being acquire

Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn. NHL Jerseys .ca. Hey Kerry, Thanks for taking time to read my question. So here goes... I understand that throughout the playoffs, the relative rankings in the regular season determines which team gets home ice advantage as they move through each round. I completely understand the logic regarding this rule and it makes total sense...more points earned = home ice advantage. And with this advantage, the home team benefits by having the energizing and supportive participation of their home crowd, whereas the visiting team is disadvantaged by having 19,000 fans who desperately want them to lose. But what I dont understand is why a visiting team must automatically submit their lineups first? Obviously this knowledge provides another strategic advantage to the coaching staff of the home team. Specifically, what has the home team done to EARN receiving this information/advantage first, other than simply being the home team? My question also applies to the stick-to-the-ice requirement on faceoffs by the visiting team first. Why is this so? Wouldnt it be more fair for the teams to call head or tails on the flip of a coin for these two issues, like they do in football for the kickoff? Couldnt they flip a coin five hours before game time - one coin flip for the lineup submission, and a second flip for the faceoff stick placement? It seems that these two additional unearned benefits bestowed to the home team in the playoffs need re-examination, unless Im missing something here. Thank you very much,BillLaval, Quebec Hi Bill: The founders initiated a policy that since one team had to submit their starting lineup and playing roster first. Given that the season schedule was balanced the visiting team coach was ultimately designated in the rules as the one required to blink first! Recognizing that over the course of the regular season a team plays an equal number of games at home and on the road Rule 33.3 outlines the process as follows: It is the policy of the National Hockey League that the coach of the visiting club provide to the Official Scorer, a list of eligible players, his starting line-up and designated Captain and Alternates, within five (5) minutes of completion of the warm-up twenty (20) minutes prior to faceoff. These twenty (20) minutes gives the Official Scorer time to obtain the completed home team line-up, return it to the visiting Coach and provide a copy of both line-ups to the Referees. The Official Scorer must file a report to the Commissioner or his designate if either Coach fails to cooperate within these recommended guidelines. (Report to be forwarded to NHL Toronto office). The starting lineup is simply a one-time event during the course of a game. Matching lines against key players can become an issue throughout the entire game for the visiting team Coach since the home team has the benefit of last change. Changes on the fly can become an integral part of the strategy employed by both teams and when not executed cleanly can result in scoring opportunities. We have seen situations where the line matching process can even take place immediately following the opening puck drop whereby the visiting team might dump the puck deep and then head to the bench for a designated line change. In a playoff series that goes the full seven games, the team that won the right to host the deciding game (and it was won over the long haul and not arbitrarily bestowed) also receives the full bundle of rights associated with home ice advantage; recording starting line-up last, centre stick down last in faceoffs and most importantly, the last line change. Over the course of my career I encountered more than a few glitches with team starting lineups and rosters that were submitted prior to the game. I assessed a bench minor for the incorrect starting line-up on more than two occasions when an appeal was made prior to the next face-off by the non-offending team. I also removed players from the game once I was informed by the official scorer that those players were not listed on the roster that had been submitted by the Coach. The most bizarre situation occurred when I had to enforce rule 5.2 to take away a goal that had just been scored by a team with an ineligible player on the ice. It didnt matter that the ineligible player was not involved in the scoring but simply that he had been on the ice at the time the goal had been scored and it was brought to my attention at that stoppage of play. When I showed the Coach the copy of the roster in my back pocket he admitted that he had entrusted the team trainer with filling in the roster sheet prior to the game! Near the end of my career I had a game in Madison Square Garden and Ken Hitchcock was coaching the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. Once we added a second referee to the crew I always entrusted the starting line-up sheets to my junior partner. In other words I never put them in my pocket because every other referee was junior to me. This night I was working with Bill McCreary so he held the roster sheets. Following the national anthem, Coach Hitchcock called McCreary to the Flyer bench. I saw him take the roster sheets out of his pocket, examine them briefly and then wave me over and to the bench. Upon my arrival, McCreary attempted to hand me the sheets and said Hitch wanted to make sure he had the correct players circled for the starting lineup. I refused to take the roster sheets and told McCreary to check them himself. The more McCreary persisted in trying to hand the sheets to me the more I resisted taking them. Finally as this Keystone Cops routine went back and forth the Flyers Coach intervened and asked what the F we were doing? We admitted that neither one of us carried our reading glasses onto the ice nor could we see the fine print or the players that were circled! McCreary handed the sheets to Hitch and said who are you starting? Coach Hitchcock rolled his eyes and said, "Man, we are in trouble tonight with you two out here. Youre both F-n blind!" (My contact lenses worked great on the long shots, however) Cheap NHL Jerseys . Interestingly, the culprits were not rookies, but well paid, experienced pros. The first gaffe came in the 24th minute of arguably the biggest early season MLS game in history between Seattle and Toronto. Sounder newcomer Marco Pappa, (with over 100 MLS games, and 39 Guatemalan Caps to his name) attempted a back pass to one of his central defenders. Authentic NHL Jerseys . Scheffler told The Associated Press on Wednesday he made the choice because he had three concussions over the past four years. https://www.cheapnhljerseysjustwholesale.com/ . Fielder ended 4-for-5 with a solo homer, while Avila was 4-for-4 with two runs scored for the Tigers, who put the brakes on a three-game skid and rebounded from a loss in Mondays opener. Victor Martinez and Austin Jackson both contributed two hits, an RBI and a run scored as Detroit maintained its healthy lead atop the AL Central.CALGARY -- A career night for Eric Nystrom was supposed to feel a whole lot better. Despite scoring four goals against his former team, Calgary got two goals from David Jones and the deciding shootout goal from Sean Monahan in the Flames 5-4 comeback victory over the Nashville Predators. "We had it in our hands and we let it slip away," Nystrom said quietly, as he sat dejectedly in his locker. Drafted 10th overall by the Flames in the 2002 NHL Draft, Nystrom had never scored more than twice in 457 career games. "Ive had some really bad luck this season so its nice to be rewarded but at the same time, it really means nothing when it comes to a win and a loss," he said. "Ill take the win every day of the week." Trailing 3-1 entering the third period, Calgary climbed back to within one on Jones first goal in 18 games at 1:24. After Nystrom restored the two-goal cushion at 10:47, the Flames answered right back less than two minutes later with Mikael Backlund deflecting in Kris Russells point shot for Calgarys third power-play goal of the night. Jones tied it at 13:36, deflecting Brodies shot over Devan Dubnyks shoulder. "It feels great. Weve been on the other end of this so many times so to come back twice from two goals down, that means a lot for our team," Jones said. In the shootout, it was tied 1-1 after three shooters, with Jiri Hudler scoring for the Flames and Roman Josi connecting for the visitors, when Flames coach Bob Hartley gave Monahan the tap on the shoulder. The Flames 19-year-old leading scorer made no mistake notching his third goal in six attempts this year -- all of them the deciding goal. "Huds came down and brought it to his backhand and something opened up so I tried to do the same thing and fortunately enough, I found a spot through his five hole," said Monahan, who says he enjoys having the game on his stick. "Its pretty crazy. The crowds pretty loud there. Its a little bit of pressure on you but as a hockey player, youve got to like being in those situations and thats something I like to do," Monahan said. Reto Berra clinched the win and improved to 4-0 in shootouts this season, sprawling acrobatically to get a pad on a deke from Ryan Ellis. Berra, 27, has yet to win a game in regulation in his first year in the NHL. Hes 6-14-2 with his other two victories coming in overtime. Despite having a big night, Jones was happy to watch the shootout from the bench. "I try to hide in that situation," said Jones with a chuckle. "I like the guys we have in it. They know whaat theyre doing and this Monahan kid is something else. NHL Jerseys China. . "Once I knew he was going. I was ready to just get off the bench because I knew we were going to get the two points." Mark Giordano also scored for Calgary (18-27-7), which wins consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 12 and 14. The goal extends Giordanos points sreak to a career-high six-games (3-3-6). With the single point, Nashville (23-22-8) moved within seven points of one of the two wildcard spots in the Western Conference, currently held by Minnesota and Vancouver. But it was the point that they didnt get that the Predators were talking about. "Its frustrating," said Nystrom. "Three out of four on this road trip is good when you look at the big picture but right now were in such a race, we need every point that we can get." Nashville coach Barry Trotz pointed to Jones goal early in the third as the one that turned the game around. "They scored the second goal, its 3-2 and they have all the momentum," said Trotz. "Then we played losing hockey where were trading chances. Thats now how you play. The whole game and the momentum changed on the second goal." Nystrom entered the night with one goal in his previous 19 games, but he wasted little time giving Nashville the early lead as he fired a shot past Karri Ramo from the slot just 1:51 into the game. Nystrom made it 2-1 1:50 into the second then made it 3-1 five minutes later, tipping Paul Gaustads shot from deep in the corner over Ramos shoulder. Ramo was promptly pulled by Flames coach Bob Hartley after Nystroms third goal, leaving the game with nine saves on 12 shots. It was the first time Ramo had been pulled this season. "I went to Karri and I told him, Im trying to turn the game over. They were two flukey goals," Hartley said. "It seems that we were just falling into the hole that we were digging ourselves. Sometimes you need to change the momentum." Dubnyk was making his second start since being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 15 in a trade for Matt Hendricks. He had 27 saves while Berra, in relief, had 12. Notes: The Flames had multiple power-play goals for just the second time since Oct. 21. The last time they had two was Dec. 23... Nystrom had 19 goals and 20 assists in 204 games with Calgary over parts of four seasons... Paul Byron (foot) returned to the Flames line-up after missing one game. Scratched for Calgary was RW Brian McGrattan (foot) and D Ladislav Smid (undisclosed)... The Flames win for the first time (1-3-2) when Jones scores. ' ' '