Report Card: FLA 1 @ NYR 3
Monday - October 20, 2003
| 10/20/03 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
F |
 |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
Goalie
|
GA/SH
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Mike
Dunham #30, G |
1/35 | A | Even though the Rangers played a good 1st, credit
Dunham with some enormous saves to hold 'em off. One was a flurry of
about no less than SIX shots right in a row with Dunham clinging to the
post, the other was a clear breakway than Dunham didn't really have to
move much for, but he had his glove exactly where it should've been.
The goal against Dunham seemed to think he'd get a whistle on as it was
poked in from next to his blocker, but his defensemen were also guilty
for giving up on the play. Fantastic 3rd period in which he was
bombarded with NINETEEN shots! I would NOT say that Dunham stole the
game for the Rangers and they didn't deserve to win otherwise, but
without an "A" game from Dunham this was at least a tie game, if not
worse. |
| Jussi Markkanen #40, G |
0/0 |
(DNP) | |
|
Defenseman
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Greg de
Vries #4, LD |
23:48 | B | Fumbled the puck at the
offensive blue line which forced Mironov to take a hooking penalty in
the 3rd, Rangers clinging onto a 2-1 lead no less. He doesn't look
quite as sharp as he did in pre-season and early regular season, but
he's HARDLY playing poorly. 3 shots. |
| Tom Poti #3, RD |
24:52 | B+ | Pretty good game,
including the game winner which came with 7 seconds left in the 2nd.
Wrist shot through a screen that surprised Luongo. Of course he still
makes some major mistakes, but overall I think his defensive play has
jumped up a notch this season so far. 4 shots. |
| Vladimir
Malakhov #23, LD |
10:27 | B | Hey, Vlad got into a fight! He only had to be shoved
about ten times, but he did drop 'em and threw a few before they fell
to the ice. For some unfathomable reason he got a game misconduct for
this, perhaps because it's been a very chippy game up to now, but that
was one of the lamest game misconducts I've ever seen. The officiating
was quite poor tonight. |
| Boris Mironov #29, RD |
18:27 | B | I'm sitting here post-game with nothing in Bobo's column. I do know he played a good game, though, and made a great play breaking up a dangerous pass on the PK in the 3rd. Now I do have something in Bobo's column. Ha. |
| Darius
Kasparaitis #6, LD |
18:46 | B | Ran around like a nut in the 1st period and nearly
decapitated a few people. Strong game overall, looked both comfortable
and aggressive. |
| Joel Bouchard #74, RD |
20:07 | B | Made the one major
Ranger mistake of the 1st period, got crossed up at the blueline
allowing a Panther to come in alone and forcing Dunham to make a
highlight reel save. Has really settled down after an awful first game
and that's probably the most ice time Bouchard has ever gotten in his
career. +2. |
|
Forward
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Eric
Lindros #88, C |
10:37 | A- | Total fluke goal about a minute in. Took a snap shot
that deflected off a Panther, off Luongo's glove and bounced in behind
him. Hey, so what? Take enough shots, like you should, and you'll get
those. Got a round of applause with a nice sliding shot block on the
PK. Took a ton of hits, too, and didn't SEEM any worse off for it, but
he didn't play the 3rd period with a reported shoulder problem. Rangers
have 4 days off before their next game, though, so hopefully it's
something the break will heal. Bad timing, as he's really starting to
play well. |
| Martin Rucinsky #26, LW |
15:57 | B- | Okay game, but certainly
one of the quieter Rangers. Good PK'ing shifts. Speaking of which, who
DOESN'T kill penalties on this team? |
| Jamie
Lundmark #21, RW |
15:07 | B- | He definitely skated hard, also had some good PK
shifts, but didn't seem quite able to handle the quicker pace on
Lindros' line. I don't mean the skating, I'm talking about the passing
and puck control. Regardless, he looked good enough to get more time
"up here" if they want to give this experiment more time. Still waiting
for a shot on goal this season. |
| Petr Nedved #93, C |
21:07 | B+ | Lots of ice time and played a hard game, finally getting a payoff with a desperate empty netter as he was falling to the ice. A goal, +2 and 4 shots is a nice night. |
| Jan
Hlavac #37, LW |
14:28 | B | Keeps playing well and keeps playing hard. I've
almost got to take back what I said about Hlavac in the off-season and
how much I didn't want the Rangers to re-sign him. Definitely been
proving me wrong. |
| Alexei Kovalev #27, RW |
19:48 | B | He had 5 shots and
probably had another 3 or 4 more that were blocked. Skated well and
played hard, probably the best game I've seen him have this season
overall. This line seemed to have a ton of chances, they're still
really not clicking yet, though. |
| Bobby
Holik #16, C |
18:27 | B- | Okay game, but was the only Ranger to finish with a
minus on the night. Played fairly hard, though, and had a better night
on faceoffs with 12/22. |
| Dan Lacouture #39, LW |
10:18 | C+ | Blew a tire in the offensive zone and took a hooking penalty from his ass directly after. Got into a fight at the very end of the game. Eh. He just isn't bowling anyone over with his play right now. |
| Anson
Carter #22, RW |
16:28 | B | Set the tone for the 1st period on the first shft by
skating hard and delivering two great hits, especially the one at
center ice. Even though he didn't score, easily had his best period as
a Ranger. Took a bad penalty while the Rangers were on a PP in the 3rd.
Still, even without a goal he finally showed what he's capable of doing
tonight. A very tenacious player when he's on his game. |
| Mark Messier #11, C |
13:37 | C+ |
Classic
Messier elbow to the mouth in the 1st period. Stupid penalty, but part
of me liked seeing it anyway. With Lindros out for the 3rd, Messier
seemed to get more ice time than the center ice logo. |
| Chris
Simon #17, LW |
3:41 | B+ | Thank you, Chris Simon, for one of the better fights
I've seen from a Ranger in I don't know how long. Hordichuk flattened
Lindros with a late hit earlier, next time Simon is out against him he
goes right up to Hordichuk and gets it on in a big way in a wild fight.
Old time hockey, brother. Took a 5 minute major and game misconduct in
the 2nd when he threw a Panther face first into his own bench, but that
was a touchy call, tough to determine if Simon meant to do that or not.
25 PIM's in 3:41 of ice time. Nice! |
| Matthew Barnaby #36, RW |
4:26 | B- | That's what I want to
see! Finally, Barnaby seems into it again with tenacious skating and
even got into a fight. Odelein pretty much buried him, literally, but
that's okay, at least he's into the game. Drew a PP in the 2nd, one of
Barnaby's biggest assets as a player that we haven't seen much of so
far. |
|
|
|||
| COACHING STAFF: | B | People have been clamoring for a Lundmark/Carter
switch, and there you have it. And... ah... hmph. Honestly, I think I
might have to get rid of this column. There's really little to talk
about most nights. |
|
| |
|||
| 1st PERIOD: | A- | Fantastic period! Oh, they didn't dominate or
anything, but right from the opening whistle EVERY SINGLE RANGER skated
hard and played with an edge. Lots of hits, slides to block shots, hard
work, we even had two simultaneous fights! Shots were 7-7 and the
Panthers had plenty of good chances, but damn, that period was just fun. |
|
| 2nd PERIOD: | A- | Rangers started out very
slowly, bad enough to the point where JD suggested they take a time
out. How quickly things changed, though, as at around the 5 minute mark
the Rangers started skating and hitting like they did in the 1st and
ended up taking the shots in the period 16-9. Another terifficly fun
period to watch filled with hard skating and plenty of hits. Rangers PK
looks invincible. |
|
| 3rd PERIOD: | D+ | Forced to play the period short three players - the
expelled Simon and Malakhov plus the injured Lindros. Once again they
come out flat in the beginning, this time it costs 'em with an early
goal against. Panthers owned this period while the Rangers did a lot of
icing and breaking up of the play at the last second. You'd certainly
like to see them not have to cling to the lead like they did, but hell,
one step at a time, huh? They came into the period with a two goal lead
and left with a two goal win thanks to an empty netter - good enough.
SHOTS WERE NINETEEN TO FIVE FOR THE PANTHERS! |
|
| OVERALL: | B+ |
I
was grinning ear to ear most of the night. That was the best regular
season Ranger game I've seen since who knows when, at least for the
first two periods. Not so much the best played, but definitely the most
entertaining. So many nights I'm sitting here desperately trying to
find a few interesting things to write about, tonight I could probably
fill a short book on the events that took place. Fights! Hits! Hard
work! Great saves! Penalties galore! Too bad the 3rd period was mostly
forgetable, but those first two were fantastic. Rangers PK still looks
tremendous while the power play still looks dismal. Things seem to be
turning around after the terrible opening two games. Dunham is back on
top of his game, the effort has improved greatly, it's still just the
power play and the offense overall that hasn't shown up yet. Three game
undefeated streak with a goal per game against average... hard to
believe these are the Rangers. It will be interesting to see how they
do against an A-level team on Saturday night. |
|
| Scratches: | Pavel Bure (knee - IR) Sheldon Keefe (healthy) Brian Leetch (ankle - IR) Dale Purinton (healthy) Mike Siklenka (healthy) |
||
| created by: | Pete Rocha, © 2003. procha@optonline.net | ||
| Discuss the card here | |||
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