Game 3: Carolina 2 @ Montreal 1

So far in this series, I haven't expressed nor harvested any criticism of the officiating, because, generally, Dennis LaRue and Dan Marouelli have been fair and consistent in their calls. That clearly wasn't the case tonight.

The fun all started in the second period, when Justin Williams clipped Saku Koivu in the face in the goal crease, in plain view of the referee, severely cutting Koivu and forcing him to leave the Bell Centre to go to the hospital. Williams wasn't assessed a minor penalty, let alone a double minor, for a blatant high-stick to the Canadiens' captain.

Then, in the 16th minute of the third period, Mike Komisarek high sticks a Carolina player (I believe it was Cory Stillman) and gets a four-minute double minor, leaving the Canadiens short-handed pretty much for the rest of the game. After the non-call on Koivu, this penalty seemed outrageous, but it wasn't over for the refs.

In overtime, Josef Vasicek throws Tomas Plekanec into the boards but gets away with another non-call. Plekanec then gets called for hooking Vasicek seconds later. Sheldon Souray loses his stick and Eric Staal scores on the power play, cutting the Canadiens' lead in the series to 2-1.

To be fair to the 'Canes, they had some good scoring chances and showed flashes of being the second-placed team that dominated the NHL for much of the regular season. But it was the Canadiens who dominated for most of this game, and, if it weren't for rookie goaltender Cam Ward's heroics and the blatantly lopsided calls of LaRue and Marouelli, the Canadiens would have had Carolina in a 3-0 stranglehold going into Game 4 on Friday. For now, though, let's just pray that Saku Koivu, who has suffered enough major setbacks in his NHL career, doesn't have to deal with another one.