Hockeybird.com: Report Card: ANA 3 @ NYR 1

Report Card: ANA 3 @ NYR 1

Tuesday - October 28, 2003

10/28/03	1	2	3	OT	F
	2	1	0		3
	0	0	1		1

Goalie	GA/SH	Grade	Comments
Mike Dunham #30, G	3/22	C-	Totally flubbed the first one. A very soft shot from about 15-20 feet out, might have deflected off Poti, but regardless, that was one Dunham should've had without question. Second one was a PP point shot that Dunham lost beind a screen. Third was another Duck power play goal, this one deflected in by Neidermeyer from about 7 feet out. He didn't have much work the entire night and whatever work he did have, you could just tell he was a bit off his game and fighting it tonight.
Jussi Markkanen #40, G	0/0		(DNP)
Defenseman	Ice Time	Grade	Comments
Greg de Vries #4, LD	20:05	B-	He hasn't been bad, but he doesn't look anywhere near the force he was in pre-season. Too slow on the PP, too.
Tom Poti #3, RD	23:25	B	Ducks second goal, could Poti have been more aggressive moving a Duck out of Dunham's line of sight? Eh, perhaps. Tough to say because he wasn't in Dunham's crease, but about 5 feet out. Clearly seemed to lead the defensemen in hits. Yeah, go figure.
Vladimir Malakhov #23, LD	20:40	B-	Nothing good, nothing bad.
Boris Mironov #29, RD	21:04	B-	Ditto.
Darius Kasparaitis #6, LD	14:45	C+	Ducks third goal deflected off of Kaspar's skate. Nothing but a fluke, though, not Darius' fault. I don't think I've seen him throw a good hit in 2 full games now.
Joel Bouchard #74, RD	16:02	B	Blocked a Duck shot at an empty net with about 30 seconds left. What the hell, even though it's meaningless I'd rather not have another goal go against their record, either. Also had 4 shots in the 3rd period.
Forward	Ice Time	Grade	Comments
Bobby Holik #16, C	17:27	B-	Okay game, huge hit on a 2nd period PK. 5 shots, 7/14 on faceoffs.
Martin Rucinsky #26, LW	14:33	C-	Yawn! One of the few Rangers without a shot. Hell, he didn't even need to show up tonight for all I saw from him.
Anson Carter #22, RW	16:53	B-	Good scoring chance in the 1st from about 8 feet in front of the net, save. Good scoring chance in the 2nd from about 8 feet in front of the net, save again. Good scoring chance in the 3rd from about 8 feet in front of the net, guess what? He's been shooting into goalies' chests all season. At least he is getting scoring chances, though, which is much more than I can say about Rucinsky. 4 shots total.
Petr Nedved #93, C	23:51	B-	Wasn't very noticable until about midway through when he CRUSHED a Duck into the boards, but unfortunately took a boarding penalty on it. This line was the best tonight but due more to the efforts of his linemates rather that Petr.
Jan Hlavac #37, LW	14:39	B	He's playing hard, hitting, skating well, getting shots off... he just never seems like a serious threat to score, though. 4 shots.
Alexei Kovalev #27, RW	22:31	B+	Very good game, constantly seemed to have the puck and set up numerous chances. Almost certainly the most active Ranger on the night. Finally rewarded with a goal on a 3rd period point shot. 7 shots!
Pascal Rheaume #20, C	6:06	C	Quite unnoticable until an injury late in the 2nd. Alas, could this be the end of Manon's Brother as a Ranger already?
Dan Lacouture #39, LW	4:38	C-	I want Petrovicky back.
Jamie Lundmark #21, RW	9:42	C	I'm getting tired of trying to find good things to say about Lundmark every game. He's not playing badly but good lord is he one boring player! Like a slice of toast, unbuttered. Doooooooo sommmmmmething, and I don't mean with a minute left in a two goal game.
Mark Messier #11, C	19:55	C	Good lord! Completely choked on two great scoring chances in the 1st period. One was a Simon pass across the crease to Messier who was wide open at the post and flubbed it. Later in the period was a SH pass to Messier who was five feet out and missed the net completely! Besides these Messier really didn't play badly and he skated quite hard, but these two missed easy scoring chances have to be about #'s 50 and 51 he's blown, flubbed, heeled and choked on since coming back 2+ seasons ago. Again, not a bad game but I'm sick of seeing this already. Sometimes he looks so weak and fragile out there I wonder how he's able to stand upright.
Chris Simon #17, LW	12:17	B	Had a great game, too bad Messier (or Simon himself) couldn't convert on any of the many good chances he created. He very well might be the best Ranger thus far this season. Later in the 3rd took a minor for elbowing and an extra 12 for yelling at the ref, but it's hard to blame him. The officiating sucked.
Matthew Barnaby #36, RW	12:00	C	A good shift early where he skated hard into the zone and made a hit, but I didn't see anything from him the entire remainder of the game until he drew a penalty in the 3rd.

COACHING STAFF:		C-	I realize that with Lindros and then Manon's Brother out he had to boost every center's ice time, but I don't ever want to see Messier at 5 seconds short of 20 minutes for a game. How many more scoring chances must he flub for Sather to realize he's more of a detriment than an asset?.

1st PERIOD:		C-	A snooze of a period. Rangers outplayed the Ducks but two things did them in - Dunham had a rough period and even though the Rangers controlled the puck more than Anaheim, their actual scoring chances were few. Oh yeah, and Messier blew one likely goal and flubbed another good chance, two chances to get or change the momentum wasted. Shots were 12-11 Ducks. The officiating was pretty lousy, too.
2nd PERIOD:		C	Started off the period with a long and great shift by the Messier line in the Ducks' zone and pretty much controlled the entire period, but once again their shots weren't getting through and Gerber was eating up any of them that were. A few decent hits and an after-whistle scrum or two, but I feel bad for ESPN who had this game on tonight. Yeah, "defense wins championships" and all that crap, but it also makes for some dull hockey. Shots 10-5 for NYR.
3rd PERIOD:		B	There was a 3rd period played, but with the Rangers down 3-0 and the game a bore, I just glanced over now and then from across the room. And what I glanced over at looked very much like what I saw in the first two periods - Rangers controlled the play, dominated in scoring chances and outshot 'em 16-5. Gerber was excellent, but still, this team looks very awkward offensively.
OVERALL:		C	It's hard to be angry with them because they did outplay the Ducks for almost the entire game, problem was that Gerber outplayed Dunham and the Ducks' yawn filled team defense was near impossible to get through once they took the lead. Still, though, this team's offense STILL looks completely and utterly inept seven games into the season. Even without Lindros and Leetch, there's still no excuse. The thing is, though, what is the answer? Do you know? I don't have the slightest idea for what they could do to make this offense and PP better. I don't think it's line chemistry as there have been several combinations this season. It's not that they're not shooting enough, they're shooting plenty. They're crashing the net well enough. They're not aiming the puck very well, but "aim better" isn't really a strategy. I don't know.
Scratches:			Pavel Bure (knee- IR) Brian Leetch (ankle - IR) Eric Lindros (sternoclavicalsomething - IR) Dale Purinton (healthy) Mike Siklenka (healthy)
created by:			Pete Rocha, © 2003. procha@optonline.net
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