Shortly after his team let a 3-1 lead slip away late in the thrid period Monday night, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach John Tortorella was clearly miffed with the officiating leading to two power play goals by the Thrashers in a game Atlanta won 4-3 in overtime.

"The frustrating part for me is that these organizations pay players millions upon millions of dollars. They're the ones who need to decide outcomes of games," Tortorella said. "Listen, I am trying to stay away from criticizing as far as some of the calls but bleep that! Bleep that! I just don't get it. It makes the coaching job even that much harder, how do you coach your players when you get that (bullbleep) out there?"

"I just think we pay players bleeping millions of dollars to decide outcomes," he continued. "They are the show and obviously there's a disconnect somewhere as far as what's going on with this game."

Tortorella's point, while not specific, might have been that teams playing at home seem to have the advantage of getting more time playing with a man advantage. Statistics (through games of Nov. 19) show that home teams are on the power play more often than road teams. In fact, 20 of the 30 NHL teams average more power play chances per game at home than they do on the road. Tampa ranks 27th in power play opportunities per game on the road and 23rd at home.

Five teams in the NHL average one more power play at home than times shorthanded. The rugged and rather imposing forward lines for the San Jose Sharks average 5.25 times per game on the power play and just 3.5 times per game on the penalty kill, a difference of 1.75. The others in the Top-5 are Buffalo (1.44), the L.A. Kings (1.23), the New York Rangers (1.09) and the Vancouver Canucks (1.00).

Four teams average one penalty kill more per game than the number of times on the power play per game on the road. Minnesota leads the NHL with being on the penalty kill 5.9 times per game on away from home, but also is on the power play an average of 5.18 times per game. Vancouver averages 5.75 times per game shorthanded on the road, and Detroit averages 5.72 penalty kills. But, Florida leads the league in disparity with 3.33 power plays versus 4.75 penalty kills on the road, a difference of -1.42. Detroit (-1.36), Boston (-1.11) and Calgary (-1.00) round out the top four.

The biggest disparity between the average number of times with a man advantage versus the number of times shorthanded at home and on the road lies with the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings average 5.33 power plays per game at home and are on the penalty kill an average of 4.55 times per game, a difference of .78. On the road it's a different story for Mike Babcock's squad. Away from Joe Louis Arena, the Red Wings average 4.36 power plays per game but are shorthanded 5.72 times per game, or -1.36. The difference is -2.14 from home games to road games.

Others with a gripe about the imbalance between home and road power plays, and home and road penalty kills are Buffalo (-2.11), Vancouver (-1.87) and Boston (-1.45).

Average Number of Power Plays vs. Penalty Kills at Home
ANA     4.75/5.08
ATL     4.62/4.87
BOS     4.11/3.77
BUF     4.88/3.44
CAR     5.3/4.8
CBJ     5.0/4.3
CGY     5.75/5.92
CHI     5.0/5.45
COL     5.3/4.4
DAL     3.4/4.2   Worst differential (-.80)
DET     5.33/4.55
EDM     3.66/4.11
FLA     4.6/4.9
LAK     5.15/3.92
MIN     3.66/3.77
MTL     5.2/4.4
NJD     4.0/4.28
NSH     5.11/4.44
NYI     4.66/4.11
NYR     5.18/4.09
OTT     4.5/4.83
PHI     4.5/4.62
PHX     4.66/3.88
PIT     4.91/4.64
SJS     5.25/3.5   Best differential (+1.75)
STL     4.9/4.7
TBL     4.5/3.9
TOR     4.91/5.58
VAN     5.27/4.27
WSH     3.87/4.5

Average Number of Power Plays vs. Penalty Kills on the Road
ANA     5.55/5.66
ATL     4.5/4.5
BOS     3.66/4.77
BUF     4.88/5.55
CAR     5.36/4.54   Best differential(+.82)
CBJ     5.3/5.4
CGY     3.25/4.25
CHI     3.88/4.0
COL     4.0/3.55
DAL     4.1/4.9
DET     4.36/5.72
EDM     4.45/4.72
FLA     3.33/4.75   Worst differential (-1.42)
LAK     4.71/4.28
MIN     5.18/5.9
MTL     4.4/4.3
NJD     4.61/4.31
NSH     4.18/4.72
NYI     3.875/4.62
NYR     5.2/4.9
OTT     4.43/4.57
PHI     4.54/5.09
PHX     4.22/4.44
PIT     5.11/5.11
SJS     4.77/4.38
STL     4.375/4.12
TBL     3.7/4.3
TOR     4.33/4.55
VAN     4.875/5.75
WSH     4.83/5.08

Interestingly, San Jose's record at home is just 3-4-1 and Dallas is 5-3-2. Carolina is 6-3-2 away from RBC Center, while Florida is 3-8-1 away.