After a couple of games in Carolina during the Penguins' five-game road trip, in which Taylor Hall drew penalties by diving, frustrating some in the Pittsburgh locker room, Hall was called for unsportsmanlike conduct in the third period of the Penguins' 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon. Yes, it followed yet another dive:
With it being an unsportsmanlike penalty and not embellishment, the penalty is his role in the tussle with Anthony Mantha. Clearly from the way Mantha approached Hall, some on the Penguins' side have had enough of Hall's antics, especially having played this team three times in 12 days.
"Of course, you can always be frustrated," Bryan Rust told me after the game, regarding Hall's diving. "But there are other things in the game that can be frustrating. You've just gotta have thicker skin and just keep on playing."
Rust had his own level of frustration throughout the game, having multiple occasions in which he had long conversations with officials after plays. In the game, the Hurricanes were given five power plays to the Penguins' two. On Hall's dive, the Hurricanes were given a power play as Hall drew the unsportsmanlike penalty, Evgeni Malkin was given a tripping minor and Anthony Mantha given a roughing minor for taking Hall down after the play. The Hurricanes capitalized on the power play as Seth Jarvis roofed a shot in tight past Stuart Skinner for their third power play goal of the game.
"We clearly didn't see eye to eye," Rust told me about his conversations with the officials. "But, that's all I'm going to go into on the referee."
If the Penguins are going to make a run at the Stanley Cup, they'll likely have to go through Carolina as the Hurricanes sit comfortably atop the Metropolitan Division with a 10-point lead and only 12 games remaining. So, there could be many more instances of having to deal with Hall.
But, for everything that happened with Hall and the officials, Rust was not the only one who didn't want to put the loss on the officiating.
"We weren't good today, so I don't want to paint a picture that I'm coming in here placing blame on anyone other than us, including myself," Dan Muse said after the game. "I'm not going to go down that road with that."
THE ASYLUM
Hall dive 'frustrating' but no excuse
After a couple of games in Carolina during the Penguins' five-game road trip, in which Taylor Hall drew penalties by diving, frustrating some in the Pittsburgh locker room, Hall was called for unsportsmanlike conduct in the third period of the Penguins' 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon. Yes, it followed yet another dive:
With it being an unsportsmanlike penalty and not embellishment, the penalty is his role in the tussle with Anthony Mantha. Clearly from the way Mantha approached Hall, some on the Penguins' side have had enough of Hall's antics, especially having played this team three times in 12 days.
"Of course, you can always be frustrated," Bryan Rust told me after the game, regarding Hall's diving. "But there are other things in the game that can be frustrating. You've just gotta have thicker skin and just keep on playing."
Rust had his own level of frustration throughout the game, having multiple occasions in which he had long conversations with officials after plays. In the game, the Hurricanes were given five power plays to the Penguins' two. On Hall's dive, the Hurricanes were given a power play as Hall drew the unsportsmanlike penalty, Evgeni Malkin was given a tripping minor and Anthony Mantha given a roughing minor for taking Hall down after the play. The Hurricanes capitalized on the power play as Seth Jarvis roofed a shot in tight past Stuart Skinner for their third power play goal of the game.
"We clearly didn't see eye to eye," Rust told me about his conversations with the officials. "But, that's all I'm going to go into on the referee."
If the Penguins are going to make a run at the Stanley Cup, they'll likely have to go through Carolina as the Hurricanes sit comfortably atop the Metropolitan Division with a 10-point lead and only 12 games remaining. So, there could be many more instances of having to deal with Hall.
But, for everything that happened with Hall and the officials, Rust was not the only one who didn't want to put the loss on the officiating.
"We weren't good today, so I don't want to paint a picture that I'm coming in here placing blame on anyone other than us, including myself," Dan Muse said after the game. "I'm not going to go down that road with that."
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