Better Not Be Late for Overtime

I’m admittedly not watching much of the Bruins-Sabres series, what with it running on CBC directly opposite the Canadiens-Capitals on TSN. But last night, with the Capitals defeating the Canadiens in regulation, I caught the Bruins-Sabres overtime periods. They were as good as overtime gets, with chances end-to-end, starting with a Sabres power play that did everything but score, immediately followed by a Bruins shorthanded breakaway. And it’s a good thing for CBC that the two goalies were up to the challenge, because the public broadcaster spent a little too much time on a Peter Mansbridge news update and missed the first 30 seconds of the first overtime period. Could you imagine how embarrassing it would have been for Hockey Night in Canada had the game been decided in those opening 30 seconds? Yikes!

Last night’s game notwithstanding, early goals in the extra frame are very much in vogue in this year’s playoffs. It only took Washington’s Niklas Backstrom 31 seconds to beat Montreal’s Jaroslav Halak in game two of the Canadiens-Capitals series last Saturday night, and Colorado’s Ryan O’Reilly was credited with the overtime winner at the 51 second mark of game three of the Avalanche-Sharks series earlier this week. O’Reilly’s heroics were the result of San Jose’s Dan Boyle trying to backhand the puck behind his own goal, only to have it deflect off O’Reilly’s body and into the net. You can’t get a more unlucky bounce in overtime . . . unless, of course, you’re the network executive who decided to stay with a news update for an extra minute and missed the whole thing.

In hindsight, CBC was fortunate to have picked the right game in which to make such a significant timing blunder. But the network is playing with fire if it lets it happen again.

TONIGHT’S GAMES:
Flyers at Devils – Game 5, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RIS)
Senators at Penguins – Game 5, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Blackhawks at Predators – Game 4, 8:30 p.m. (TSN2)/(RIS – joined in progress)
Avalanche at Sharks – Game 5, 10:30 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)