Hockeybird.com: Report Card: NJD 2 @ NYR 1 OT

Report Card: NJD 2 @ NYR 1 OT

Tuesday - September 24, 2002

Rocha's Report Card: 9/24/02

Player	Ice Time	Grade	Comments
Dan Blackburn		B+	Not much work in the 1st until a great shoulder save with about 6min to go and followed the rebound in the air nicely. Later in the period absolutely stoned a Devil on a point blank (3 feet away) shot. Excellent glove save early in the 2nd with the Devils on the PP. Later on the same PP saved another great shot from the slot. Awesome leg save on a mini-breakaway midway through the 2nd. Can't blame him on either goals, both players were all alone. Wasn't swamped with work tonight, but did have to make more than a few good saves. Very solid in every sense but got no offensive support and ends up with another OT loss.

Tom Poti		B-	Made a nice play in the 1st getting his stick out quickly to deflect away a good Gomez scoring chance. Poti looked good at both ends, and used the body a bit, even got in a bit of a shoving match. Fumbled a pass on the 3rd period PP, allowing for an easy clear.
Vladimir Malakhov		B-	Paired with Poti. Looked average in every sense of the word until he snuck down on a 3rd period PP for the game tying goal. Then in OT couldn't grab the fluttering pass which Rafalski did grab and put past Blackburn.
Bryce Lampman		B-	Good and bad. Made a bad back pass at his blueline which almost resulted in a scoring chance, but also made some nice defensive plays. Uses his body, too. Looks like he could be a good player down the line.
Richard Lintner		B-	He's an interesting player. Decent defensively and has some noticable offensive skills. Good PK shift in the 3rd. Seems like a less than spectacular but solid player. Seems better than Karpa.
Joel Bouchard		B	Paired with Lefevbre. Ripped off a nice slap shot on a 1st period PP. Active game, along with Poti probably the best Rangers' D of the night.
Sylvain Lefevbre		B-	It's Sylvain Lefevbre. You think I have something to say here? Well, I don't. I almost never do. That is the nature of The Lefevbre.

Eric Lindros		B	One of the few Rangers into the game physically. Threw a few good hits and seemed to be trying harder than most.
Pavel Bure		B-	Quiet game by Bure standards. A few shots, some good efforts, nice pass to Malakhov for the goal.
Nils Ekman		B-	Fanned on a good scoring chance in the 1st. Nullified a PP in the 2nd, but it was a touchy call. He works hard and both takes and gives the bumps in the corners to get the puck. Reminded me a lot of Andreas Johansson. No major talent but a solid, gritty mucking type.
Bobby Holik		C	Another tough, hard hitting game (at first), but I'll tell you one thing I didn't like: Rangers killing a 4-on-3 PP, 2nd period, Holik chases the puck into the NZ then decides to change, leaving the Devils able to come up ice 4-on-2. and get a good scoring chance. Bad decision. Then in the 3rd lost the faceoff and lost his man (Elias) who was alone in front of the net for a goal.
Mark Messier		C+	Tell me what this was? 1st period, coming into the zone with Bure and another Ranger, does his typical circle at the blueline then skates the puck out of the zone and loses it at center ice! Huh?? He pretty much loafed through most of the game, but so did more than half the players on both teams. Made a nice play on a 5-on-3 PK, 3rd period.
Jamie Lundmark		B-	Not much to talk about. 2 good shots on goal that I remember. Was good to see him cross-check a Devil that just gave a wicked cross-check to Samuelsson, even if Lundmark did nullify the penalty on it.
Ted Donato		C+	Nothing to speak of until a very slick backhanded pass behind the net to McCarthy for a great scoring chance.
Sandy McCarthy		B	Great shift late in the 1st, first with a huge offensive zone hit then got in position and got a good scoring chance. Drew a penalty in the 2nd. One of the few players (on both teams) who was really into the game. Didnd't seem to get much ice in the 3rd.
Rico Fata		C	Typical Rico play in the 1st: Flew into the zone at 100mph, made a spin on the boards, rubbed out and had the puck taken away from him. Similar plays happened a few times tonight. Got some time with Lindros and Bure in the 3rd, didn't really stand out.
Kryztof Oliwa		C	Took a 1st period penalty. Seemed to tweak the back a bit on a 2nd period hit.
Rem Murray		B-	He looked okay, slightly above the uninspired level that most players played at.
Michael Samuelsson		B	Boy, did he make a move in the 1st period. Skating the puck 1-on-1 into the zone, without hesitation did a spin-o-rama and lauched a very nice backhander that Brodeur had to make a tough save on. Nice stickhandling at the blueline in the 2nd to get a shot off. Good effort to get free late in the 3rd and hit the post. Nice game, one of the better Rangers.

COACHING STAFF:		n/a	Nothing to talk about. Messier seemed to be on fewer PK's, so that's good. Instead, let's talk about the beginning of the 3rd period on TV, when radio guys Kenny Albert and Brian Mullen took over the broadcast. I have to say, I REALLY like the staccato, business-like style of the radio play-by-play much more than the more casual TV style. Makes the game more exciting, and it just feels more like hockey to me.

OVERALL:		C+	Very dull game, even for pre-season. Most players on both teams weren't really trying that hard. A few hits, maybe one or two shoving matches, that's it. A few things I didn't like tonight: Most Rangers just waltzed through the game with no sense of urgency, but it IS pre-season. That happens. Another thing I didn't like is the Devils stacked their blueline most of the night but the Rangers, as usual, won't dump and chase and lost the puck at the blueline a lot. They have to be able to change their style on the fly as fits the game. Defense was pretty solid, offense was mostly absent.

created by:			Pete Rocha, (c) 2002. procha@optonline.net
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Posted by pete at September 24, 2002 09:39 PM
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