Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators – 8:00 EDT
REFEREES |
||||||
| Chris Rooney (#5) | Kelly Sutherland (#11) | |||||
 |
 |
|||||
| Games 16-17 | 38 / 10 | 74 / 11 | ||||
| Career Games | 1014 | 1081 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 11/22/00 | 12/19/00 | ||||
| Birthplace | Boston, MA | Richmond, BC | ||||
| Goals/Gm | 5.8 (5) / 5.2 (12) | 5.3 (31) / 5.2 (11) | ||||
| PP/Gm | 3.0 (18) / 3.0 (13) | 2.9 (28) / 3.1 (11) | ||||
| Penl/Gm | 3.7 (30) / 4.3 (9) | 3.9 (19) / 4.3 (10) | ||||
| PIM/Gm | 8.7 (33) / 11.8 (4) | 9.6 (15) / 10.3 (9) | ||||
| % of Penl on Home | 51% (3) / 49% (9) | 47% (25) / 45% (14) | ||||
| More Penl on Rd % | -3% (40) / 5% (11) | 13% (10) / 24% (4) | ||||
| Home Win % | 58% (26) / 60% (6) | 69% (6) / 64% (2) | ||||
| Home Rec. | 22-16 / 6-4 | 51-23 / 7-4 | ||||
| OT/SO Games | 11% (40) / 20% (17) | 26% (15) / 27% (11) | ||||
| Calls by Period | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| 2016-17 | 32%/ 27% |
41%/ 36% |
27%/ 36% |
35%/ 34% |
33%/ 37% |
31%/ 29% |
| Team Records | 16-17 | 15-16 | 14-15 | 16-17 | 15-16 | 14-15 |
| PIT | 1-1 2-1 |
4-3 | 3-3 | 2-1 2-0 |
5-1 | 4-1 |
| OTT | 1-2 0-2 |
0-6 | 4-2 | 4-2 1-2 |
4-2 | 1-3 |
LINESMEN |
||||||
| Pierre Racicot (#65) | Matt MacPherson (#83) | |||||
 |
 |
|||||
| Games 16-17 | 77 / 11 | 77 / 11 | ||||
| Career Games | 1613 | 399 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 10/12/93 | 10/11/11 | ||||
| Birthplace | Verdun, QC | Antigonish, NS | ||||
This is the third game this postseason for the pairing of Chris Rooney and Kelly Sutherland, who worked Senators/Penguins Game 2, a 1-0 Pittsburgh victory that saw both teams combine for 40 minutes in penalties. Rooney and Sutherland also refereed Game 4 of the Western Conference Final between the Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators.
Rooney worked the first two rounds with ref Francois St. Laurent. In Round 1, the duo handled PIT/CBJ Game 1, CHI/NSH Game 2, EDM/SJS Game 4, and MTL/NYR Game 6. The second round saw them referee STL/NSH Game 1, OTT/NYR Game 3, EDM/ANA Game 5, and WSH/PIT Game 6.
Sutherland was paired with Chris Lee for the opening round, working EDM/SJS Game 2, MIN/STL Game 3, WSH/TOR Game 4, and OTT/BOS Game 5. He officiated Round 2 with referee Steve Kozari, seeing action for NSH/STL Game 2, EDM/ANA Game 3, WSH/PIT Game 4, and OTT/NYR Game 5. Sutherland also worked Game 7 between the Ducks and Oilers with referee Wes McCauley.
Both officials rank in the bottom half of calls-per-game during the playoffs, but the majority of those penalties – and officials – came in the opening round. Of the four Conference Final pairings, Rooney/Sutherland rank second, combining for 6 power plays per game. Only the duo of O’Rourke/Hebert, at 7.2, has more. This should benefit the Penguins, who have gone 5-for-9 with the man advantage over the past three games. Ottawa’s last power play goal came in Game 1 against the New York Rangers; the Sens are 0-for-29 since then. Pittsburgh’s penalty-killers have stopped their last 18, dating back to Game 6 against the Washington Capitals. The Senators’ PK has struggles as of late, allowing five power play goal in the past three games — going just 4-for-9 (44%) on the penalty kill.
Home teams are a combined 13-8 (62%) under tonight’s officials, the highest home win percentage under any of the remaining ref pairings.
Rooney missed the first half of the season with an injury suffered in training camp prior to the World Cup of Hockey.
This is Rooney’s fourth trip to the Conference Finals; he’s worked two Stanley Cup Finals (2012, 2013). Sutherland is making his seventh Conference Finals appearance, with four trips to the Cup Final (2010, 2011, 2015, 2016).
Standby: Jean Hebert (#15), Jonny Murray (#95)
Series Supervisor: Bill McCreary
The full list of NHL Refs and Linesmen for the 2017 Conference Finals
Playoff stats are in orange. Stats in black are for the 2016-17 season.
Number in parentheses indicates referee’s rank among active officials.
