Surely it made for great theatre. Curtis recovered from a goal-mouth scrum in which the winning goal was scored, discarding his catch glove and charged at McGeough as bug-eyed as George Brett after baseball's infamous pine-tar episode. As he approached in a rage, Joseph lost an edge on his skate, bumping into McGeough before falling. McGeough fell on top of him.

What followed, inevitably, were calls from otherwise clear-thinking writers in both cities calling for Joseph to be suspended for such an outrageous display of insubordination. After all, their argument went, if any other position player lost control and charged the referee, cutting his legs out from under him and spilling him to the ice, he'd be suspended, right?

Probably. But goaltenders are different.

This was incidental contact in the absence of intent, and the new guideline by which everyone is trying to co-exist is "no harm, no foul."

And that's exactly how McGeough and league officials were viewing it.

"He felt the goalie fell, and he fell on top of him," director of officiating Bryan Lewis said of McGeough. The referee got up and slapped Joseph with a 10-minute misconduct penalty served by Cory Cross.

McGeough seemed to concur with letting the incident pass. In fact, if McGeough had deemed the incident serious enough, he could have assessed the suspension himself for physical abuse of officials (Rule 76) resulting in an automatic suspension of between 3 and 20 games. McGeough did not do that.

"They paid with the loss of a player," McGeough said, citing the 10-minute misconduct to Joseph served by Cross.

Cross was the defender trying to muscle Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson out of the way in the crease when the two crashed into Joseph, who fell to his knees and was trying to recover when Senators forward Rob Zamuner whistled a shot past Joseph at 14:17 of the third period. It stood as the game-winner in a 4-3 Ottawa victory that put the best-of-seven series at 2-1 in Toronto's favor heading into Game 4 Wednesday.

Ironically, Joseph and Maple Leafs coach/GM Pat Quinn were among the most vocal complainers about attacking players encroaching on goaltenders in the weeks leading up to the playoffs. McGeough easily could have cited Alfredsson with goaltender interference on that play, negating the goal. Instead, he invoked the new standard, or else he concluded that Joseph was taken out of the play by the aggressive defense by Cross.

Either way, this was a no-win situation for the NHL. If it had suspended Joseph, he could have said, "Hey, I've been warning the league about this and now I'm the one getting punished." If it doesn't suspend him, and it won't, the NHL is accused of not standing up for its officials and allowing players to show them up on sports shows all over the world.

Goalie Curtis Joseph got a 10-minute misconduct penalty after running into referee Mick McGeough.(AP)

Still, the Leafs paid dearly with a loss while Joseph faced a potentially bigger problem at home than he might have with the NHL disciplinarians. A man who takes fatherhood seriously, Joseph worried that his three children would see the replays of that incident and be disappointed in him.

"I don't like the way I reacted," he said. "Now I have to explain to my kids why I was so mad."

That's a noble thought. But while he's at it, he can explain it to every other youngster who saw it. And apologize.

No further action from the NHL is necessary.

Partners in controversy

For those keeping score at home, referee McGeough has been involved in two of the biggest stories in the first week of the playoffs.

He's the guy who landed unceremoniously on top of Joseph in Ottawa on Monday night. But he was also calling Game 2 in Philadelphia on Friday night, when a shot from Flyers forward John LeClair entered the goal through a hole near the bottom of the net -- and not the four-foot-by-six-foot opening guarded by goaltender Dominik Hasek.

McGeough is working the first four games of this opening series with partner Rob Shick. It's purely coincidence, of course -- that's the NHL's story and it's sticking to it -- that McGeough was in the middle of both controversies. But don't expect to see much more of him as these playoffs progress.

Referees, like teams, advance on the basis of good performances. McGeough is challenged enough during the regular season. He's overmatched in the playoffs.

Jaws of in San Jose

Everyone knew defensemen had the best potential to make headlines when top- seeded St. Louis met San Jose in the opening round.

But Mike Rathje and Bryan Marchment?

OK, Marchment is always worth the networks isolating a camera on him, because you never know what kind of stupid, vicious, career-ending shenanigan he's going to pull next.

But Rathje is emerging in this series as the second coming of, well, Chris Pronger.

A big, slow and oft-times brooding defender, the 6-5oot-5, 235-pound Rathje has frustrated coaches and teammates with his pacifism since the Sharks selected him with the third overall pick in the 1992 entry draft.

Rathje did a little of everything in the Sharks' 2-1 victory Monday over visiting St. Louis that put San Jose halfway toward what would be the most stunning upset of the first round. He got sent to the penalty box for cross-checking -- one of Pronger's favorite plays. He made the offensive play that led to the game-winner, swooping in on a loose puck in the slot for a shot that bounced off the shoulder of goalie Roman Turek.

Sharks captain Owen Nolan deposited the rebound past Turek for the go-ahead goal that eventually stood as the game-winner because Rathje helped fend off a furious rally with the Blues attacking and their net unguarded.

Nolan had both San Jose goals, and now has four in this series. St. Louis' top-line center, Pierre Turgeon, has none.

A year ago at this time Nolan faded into oblivion in the first-round defeat to Colorado, blaming fatigue. He dedicated the off-season to getting into the best condition of his life, and we're seeing the results.

A year ago, Turgeon dedicated himself to being a playoff performer for the first time in his career, and we saw a dramatically changed player who led a near upset of Dallas in the second round. If that player doesn't re-emerge quickly, the Blues are in big trouble.

Avalanche sweep through

Best line of these Stanley Cup playoffs to date: "Stick a Bourque in 'em. The Coyotes are done." -- Arizona Republic hockey writer Bob McManaman

What chance did those dysfunctional desert dogs have, anyway, with the way Colorado has been playing since defenseman Raymond Bourque arrived?

The Avs won their 11th consecutive game Monday to take a 3-0 series lead on Phoenix after a 4-3 victory. They're 15-1-3 since the Bourque trade.

And suddenly, there's this feeling of déjà vu in the Colorado dressing room, like it's 1996 all over again.

"I see a team that's on the same page. We're all moving in the same direction and we're staying real calm whether we're up or down," said veteran defenseman Adam Foote, who helped the Avs win the Stanley Cup in 1996. "There's no overconfidence. There's no panic."

There's no doubt this series is over.

Oh, that explains it

Washington coach Ron Wilson, once so confident that his team would win this series he said the Caps could play every game in Pittsburgh and it wouldn't change the outcome, now blames officiating on his team being on the brink of elimination, down 3-0.

"The benefit of the doubt goes to them because they have the superstar," said Wilson, referring to Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr.

Washington has just 13 power plays in the three games to Pittsburgh's 22. The Pens have converted five times, too, including Jagr's game-winner in overtime. The Caps, who turned their season around at the holidays on the strength of defense and goaltending, had 55 fewer power plays this season than their opponents. Pittsburgh, a flash-and-dash offensive team, had 25 more manpower advantages than their opposition.

Brian's song tops charts in Philly

Imagine how rookie Philadelphia goaltender Brian Boucher is feeling: In his first Stanley Cup playoff experience, he's one game away from a sweep of Dominik Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres.

Only a year ago, he was sitting in the driveway listening to the car radio because the AM reception was better, listening for news of trades at the NHL deadline. He was that sure he no longer fit into the Flyers' plans for the future.

Now, at 23, Boucher is their future.

After three games, he leads the NHL with three wins, a 1.00 goals-against average and is second with a .956 save percentage. Teammates like him because he simply exudes confidence.

"I'm no genius. I just liked what I saw," coach Craig Ramsay said. "He wants to be the goaltender. He carries himself like a champion."

Special delivery to Hockeytown

Monday night's 2-1 loss at home to Detroit made it 11 postseason defeats in a row for the Los Angeles Kings.

They can blame their current predicament on stupid penalties at the worst of times, and the inability to kill them.

The Red Wings, with the best penalty-killing team in the NHL this season, scored both goals on the power play in Game 3. Their first came with a two-man advantage after captain Rob Blake was whistled for high-sticking while killing a penalty.

In the series, Detroit is 5-19 on the power play and has killed all 16 of its penalties. Special teams don't get much more special than that.

Slap shots

• St. Louis forward Pavol Demitra, suffering from post-concussion syndrome, had a recurrence of headaches recently that jeopardized his chances of returning even late in this first-round series with San Jose. He must be headache-free for 10 days before doctors will allow him to play.
• Blues forward Jamal Mayers gave up his tiger-striped eyebrows for a more traditional playoff goatee. He had his eyebrows dyed back to black. "They were itchy, a lot of irritation," Mayers told the St. Louis Dispatch. "When the goatee grows, I'll dye that blond." Just a thought, but shouldn't this team be concentrating on hockey?
• The sale price of the Phoenix Coyotes from owner Richard Burke to Phoenix developer Steve Ellman: $87 million, according to unidentified sources in the Arizona Republic. That's not a lot more than the $80 million paid to enter the NHL by recent expansion clubs.
• The New Jersey Devils drew a paltry 15,024 fans to Continental Airlines Arena last Thursday for their first home playoff game, 78.9 percent of capacity. Attendance was only slightly better Sunday, at 17,206. That's a pretty good hockey team in desperate need of a marketing department.

The final word

"It's not like we're landing in Normandy or anything. It's not Saving Private Healy we're talking about here. It's not like there's barbed wire strewn all over the ice surface." -- Toronto goalie Glenn Healy, on injuries this season to Maple Leafs Mats Sundin, Danny Markov and Bryan Berard at Ottawa's Corel Centre.