With 23 seconds remaining in regulation of tonight's Tampa Bay-Montreal playoff game, Montreal held a 3-2 lead. With a faceoff in the Montreal defensive zone coming up, ESPN color commentator Neil Smith said it might be a good idea for Canadiens head coach Claude Julien to call a timeout to give his goalie a chance to take a breath. Smith pointed out that Julien had passed up a chance to call timeout in Game Two, and that he shouldn't repeat the mistake.
Julien passed on the timeout. Six seconds later, Vincent Lecavalier re-directed a shot past Montreal's Jose Theodore to tie the game, 3-3.
UPDATE: And only 1:05 into OT, Brad Richards grabbed his own rebound, and banked a shot off the back of Theodore's skate for the game winner.
And once again, the play was set into motion by a neutral zone turnover.
How ’bout them Bolts!
Here in Lightning home territory, we had to suffer through the local Sunshine Network coverage, instead of ESPN. Listening to those idiot homers drives me to distraction; hopefully, this will have been the last broadcast for them this season (unless the Habs force a Game 5 and beyond).
I’m not sure if Theodore could have done anything on Lecavalier’s goal, even if he had a rest beforehand. Rivet’s the one who messed up; he should have been on Lecavalier the whole time. Instead, he somehow let him free, and paid for it.
Neil Smith is the best color guy ESPN has. I don’t know why they don’t use him more during the regular season. Presumably he does color for a team and is unavailable, but damn. (I don’t have Center Ice. Alas!)
I believe the big pass to LeCavalier was made by 80 year ex- Sabre (2x) Dave Andreychuk. The guy’s a horse, future HOFer and, quite possibly, future Stanley Cup Champion.
Neil Smith does studio analysis for the NHL Network during the regular season. He’s pretty good, but there are better (Gary Green for example).