Report Card: PIT 2 @ NYR 6
Wednesday - November 12, 2003
| 11/12/03 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
F |
 |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
 |
2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
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Goalie
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GA/SH
|
Grade
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Comments
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| Mike
Dunham #30, G |
2/29 | C+ | Ouch. What happened there? Penguins first goal
they're coming down on a PP rush, slight screen in front of Dunham and
he never seemed to see it for a second. While there's only so much you
can do about screened shots, it really looked like it went through
Dunham's legs, legs which should've been closed. Maybe someone slipped
him some rohypnol. Spectacular series in the 2nd period with the Pens
on a PP, Dunham faced EIGHT shots in the two minutes, including at
least one highlight reel save. Another bad goal early in the 3rd, a
long shot from the blue line, no noticable screen or deflection, just
beat him. Except for that one 2nd period flurry hardly had any work
this game, and let in two bad ones. If he had to have a bad game,
thankfully it was against the completely inept Penguins. |
| Jussi Markkanen #40, G |
0/0 |
(DNP) | |
|
Defenseman
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
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| Brian Leetch #2, LD |
23:46 | B+ | Looked good in the 1st.
A few moves, a few nice passes, a few big shots (one which was only an
inch from going in), lookin' better. He actually ended up with a -1 on
a night when everyone but two others were even or better, but this is
easily the best Leetch has looked since his return. |
| Greg de Vries #4, RD |
17:32 | B | Hey, that was a nice pick he made in the 2nd period that was called a penalty. If only de Vries put on a Devil or Flyer jersey before attempting such a play, it never would've been called. |
| Vladimir
Malakhov #23, LD |
20:29 | B+ | Wow. They were both playing a good game to that
point, but then on a 2nd period PK the M&M's behaved as pylons as
the Pens skated and passed around, through and between them for a
massive EIGHT shots on goal with Vlad and Bobo sucking wind the whole
time. EIGHT! Outside of that, though, they both played quite well.
Again! It's almost to the point now where it's not so shocking anymore.
Added a meaningless goal late. Goal, assist, +2, and a team high 5
shots! You're turning my world upside down, Vladdy. |
| Boris Mironov #29, RD |
18:21 | B | Eight. EIGHT! But, even though it was ugly to watch, the Pens didn't score on that flurry, so we can laugh about it now. Ha. Bobolicious got off a stealthy 3 shots, too. |
| Darius
Kasparaitis #6, LD |
16:21 | B+ | Fun and sometimes frustrating night at the office for
Darius. Got roped like a cattle in center ice, no call. 10 seconds
later he just gets in front of the man forechecking, the Penguin throws
his feet up in the air like he was jumping off a swing, penalty.
Achieved a little vindication right after getting out of the box and
drawing a hooking call. Bunch of big hits in all three periods. He
still doesn't exactly have the poise of a Niklas Lidstrom, but hey, he
hit everyone tonight, and I like it. |
| Tom Poti #3, RD |
15:29 | B+ | Showed the great skating
and offensive presence he's capable of in the 1st, taking a faceoff win
and deking down the wing himself only to be stopped on the backhander
with a great save. A few minutes later took a bad interference call.
Ended up with 3 shots in the 1st, but also a -1. 3rd period swooped in
to pick up a Nedved rebound, giving the Rangers a much more comfortable
5-2 lead. He had a few defensive gaffes tonight, but also put on 4
shots, a goal and a +1, and you can't complain about that (although
people will, like the a-holes at MSG who booed him after the goal). |
|
Forward
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
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| Bobby
Holik #16, C |
13:24 | C | I guess he deserves a night off as much as anyone,
and it's good timing he took his night off in a game the rest of the
team was playing well. Very quiet. Turned the puck over in the neutral
zone, unforced, which led to a Pens goal. Picked up two assists, had
little to do with either goal. |
| Martin Rucinsky #26, LW |
16:56 | A- | Took a wicked hit in the
corner from Brooks Orpik, who's a mean, monster type of a defenseman
much like Kloucek was before the injuries, Rucinsky got up slowly, got
back into the play and crashed the net for Malakhov's rebound, took his
time to make a move and scored on the first shift of the game. Big goal
to set the tone. Also picked up two assists, a +2 and 5 shots in total.
His best game of the year, easy. |
| Eric
Lindros #88, RW |
1:49 | x | Drew a double minor in the 1st by taking a stick to
the mouth. ... Later reported not the mouth at all, but the eye. Scratched cornia. I sometimes wonder if Lindros would get a life-threatening blot clot by just stubbing his toe in the dark on his way to the bathroom. For a tank of a man, the guy sure does get hurt a lot. |
| Petr Nedved #93, C |
19:31 | B | Hit two posts in the 2nd
period. JUST as I'm typing that Nedved's offensive instincts really
seem off lately, he fires a blast off the pass from the right circle on
the PP, goal. Picked up an assist on the very next Ranger goal, too. He
still seems "off", though, but I'll take "off" plus a goal and an
assist any night. |
| Jan
Hlavac #37, LW |
12:35 | C | Very, very quiet. Hard to know he played. Did have an
assist, but I even had an assist tonight. |
| Alexei Kovalev #27, RW |
23:34 | C+ | On a night when the
entire team is moving around and passing like the Harlem Globetrotters,
Kovalev still can't get his groove going! Didn't really look bad, and
picked up a meaningless assist, but one assist in a game like tonight,
especially with a TEAM high 23 and a half minutes? The dude is just off
right now. |
| Mark
Messier #11, C |
18:25 | B | Hey, a legit goal! And all due credit, a hell of a
nice one, too. Skated in the zone while Simon took out two men, cut to
the middle and fired a 15 foot wrister past Fleury. Just to remind you
he's still the Jurassic Mark you know, later in the period a simple,
soft pass to Messier couldn't be handled and deflected off his stick
about 10 feet over the glass. 4 shots. |
| Chris Simon #17, LW |
12:24 | B- | Like I said above,
credit for taking out two Penguins and leaving a lot of skating room
for Messier on his goal. Besides that, though, I'm still going to keep
up my recent theme here and say Simon has been off his game lately,
possibly a minor injury. This was a nasty, hard hitting game and Simon
wasn't involved in any of it. 4 shots, but everyone had 4 shots tonight. |
| Matthew
Barnaby #36, RW |
11:57 | B | Fun fight with Kelly Buchburger early in the 1st.
Lots of punches thrown in the appx. 60 second fight. Buchburger may be
an old man, but he's still no slouch and Barnaby did a good job.
Assist, +2, 3 shots. |
| Jamie Lundmark #21, C |
15:29 | B |
Looked
pretty sharp on a 1st period PP. Later credited with the assist on the
pass that Carter eventually banged in. Hey, even Jamie picked up an
assist and 2 shots tonight. It's like Christmas. |
| Dan
Lacouture #39, LW |
11:43 | B+ | Y'know, his play has been pretty useless this season,
but he's really a pretty good fighter! Much better than I thought he
was. Also, give him huge credit, that fochin' Dan Focht was being a
major pain in the ass to that point of the game, and Lacouture made
sure to go out and start the fight with him. Lacouture took a wicked
right early, but after Focht fell down Dan picked him up just so he
could keep punching him! I llllllike it! |
| Anson Carter #22, RW |
15:13 | B | Big credit to Carter for
not giving up on the play, standing in the crease and continually
whacking at the puck until it went in. Should I even mention his shots?
I mean, everyone had about 10 shots on goal tonight. It's not that
distinctive. |
|
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| COACHING STAFF: | B+ | The good: Reunited the Hlavac/Nedved/Kovalev and
Simon/Messier/Barnaby lines. Split up the Leetch/Poti pair. ICE TIMES
WERE WELL SPREAD OUT. The bad: Still wants to tinker for some reason. Lindros remains on the RW and Carter drops to the 4th line. Well, I still don't like that Lindros RW thing, but Sather has been getting KILLED from all sides in the last week, tonight he deserves some credit for going back to the way it was working a few weeks ago with 4 steady and UTILIZED lines. |
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| |
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| 1st PERIOD: | A- | Yeah yeah yeah. I've seen great 1st periods before,
Rangers. In fact, all during this 1-2-0-2 swoon, I'm pretty sure every
one of those 1st periods have been great. Sure, you completely
dominated the period, outshooting the Pens by a ridiculous 16-7 margin.
Sure, the only reason the score was even 2-1 was a lucky seeing eye
shot by the Pens. Sure, you skated around the Penguins zone like it was
a practice. But I ain't buying it tonight, Rangers. I've seen it before. |
|
| 2nd PERIOD: | B+ | You'd think it was a
pretty even period with the shots being 13-11 in favor of the Rangers,
but as you already read above, EIGHT of those Pens shots came on one
single PP! So, lemme get out my calculator... carry the one... that
would make the shots 13-3 in favor of the Rangers otherwise. That also
doesn't count the myriad of posts the Rangers have been hitting,
either. Fun period. Good fight, lots of hitting and shots and nasty,
dirty edge. |
|
| 3rd PERIOD: | A- | Another bad Dunham goal made it 4-2 early, but this
really is like a combination shooting gallery/practice for the Rangers
tonight, as they get into the Pens zone easy as pie every time and just
rip shots from every angle. |
|
| OVERALL: | B+ |
Yeah,
a 6-2 win only gets a B+. The Penguins, especially without Lemieux and
Rico Freakin' Fata (Fata?!) are PUH-THETIC. Absolutely abysmal. They
couldn't keep the Rangers from gaining their zone and couldn't sustain
and pressure in the Rangers zone. Ever. All night, like Barry White. It
was borderline sad. I have to imagine Craig Patrick cries himself to
sleep every night.
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| Scratches: | Joel Bouchard (healthy) Pavel Bure (knee - IR) Paul Healey (knee - IR) Dominic Moore (healthy) Dale Purinton (healthy) Pascal Rheaume (knee - IR) |
||
| created by: | Pete Rocha, © 2003. procha@optonline.net | ||
| Discuss the card here | |||
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