Report Card: NYR 3 @ COL 4
Friday - November 21, 2003
| 11/20/03 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
F |
 |
0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
 |
2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
|
Goalie
|
GA/SH
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Mike
Dunham #30, G |
0/0 | (DNP) | |
| Jason Labarbera #40, G |
4/33 |
B | Big fella, isn't he? And
can he make you nervous! Seems to drop to his ass or his knees on every
shot like he was ducking incoming mortar! Unfortunately, looked like a
minor leaguer on the Avs first. Labarbabab... Jason made a nice save on
a screen shot but ended up on his ass, allowing another Av plenty of
room to slide the rebound in. Avs 2nd goal, forget it. Jason didn't
have a chance in hell to stop a beautiful Sakic to Tanguay cross-ice
pass on the rush, but neither would have 95% of goalies in the league.
Late in the 1st went about 5 feet into the circle to fall on the puck
and got a delay of game penalty. Avs third goal, Konowalchuk got behind
de Vries and was unmolested to fish at the puck underneath Labarbera's
arm. Fourth goal (sigh) wasn't Jason's fault, either, as he made a nice
save on the original shot but Kovalev really wanted to give them
another chance at it so gave 'em the puck back. Big credit to Labarbera, though, as he battled hard all night with what skills he does have. Really only one of the goals were shaky while he made at least half a dozen great saves. I don't think the outcome would've been a bit different if Markannen was in net. |
|
Defenseman
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Brian Leetch #2, LD |
26:46 | C- | Seemed to take a step
back tonight, fumbling and bumbling more than a few times. The
Leetch/de Vries pair was really bad tonight defensively even if their
+/- doesn't show it. Completely out of synch. And Leetch's offensive
game just looks lost. He looks slow in both skating and decision
making. In fact, as far as creating offense tonight, I'd have to say
Leetch created the FEWEST chances among the six, and that should never
happen, especially when you lead the team in minutes! He's been back
for weeks now. What's his problem? |
| Greg de Vries #4, RD |
21:31 | C- | Let Konowalchuk get
behind him on the Avs third goal. A MAJOR mistake. Like I said above,
him and Leetch constantly don't seem to know what the other one is
going to do. Played pretty well offensively, though. Was in the
offensive zone a lot. |
| Vladimir
Malakhov #23, LD |
15:17 | C+ | Earlier in the 1st stepped up with a nice hit on
Selanne, but later took a penalty by interfering with Selanne away from
the play. Seemed to be running into Teemu all period long, in fact.
Maybe Vlad thought he smelled nice. Rangers first goal, power play,
good thinking to quickly get a wrist shot on net from the point,
creating the rebound that Carter put in. Dumb play to crosscheck Hinote
in the face in the 3rd. In fact, had a bad 3rd period in general
between that penalty and several turnovers. |
| Boris Mironov #29, RD |
14:53 | C | See Messier's column for a longer desciption of the error him and Messier split the blame for on the Avs second goal. |
| Darius
Kasparaitis #6, LD |
18:44 | C | I can't recall anything particularly bad Darius did
tonight, but he did end up with a team low (tied with Messier) -2
tonight somehow. Must've been something. |
| Joel Bouchard #74, RD |
18:18 | B- | Early 3rd period,
Rangers down 4-2, the seas parted for him as Joel was able to take a
full wind slap shot from between the circles... and SHOT IT WIDE! Argh.
Well, at least he's fitting in. Played pretty well otherwise, but that
was an unfortunate choke in a big spot. Did get the slap shot on net
later in the game, creating the rebound Barnaby put in. Jumped into the
play all night, which is why he got the ice time when the Rangers
needed it. |
|
Forward
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Bobby
Holik #16, C |
18:48 | B- | Got his stick up into an interfering Av's face while
trying to get past him, penalty, 2-0 Avalanche. Big chance with a
minute and a half left, Rangers down by one, Holik was open in close
and at least got the shot on net, but nothing but a goal was good
enough there. Both good and not so good for Bobby tonight. Bad penalty,
7 of 18 on faceoffs, but also had 4 shots and was the only plus player
on the team besides Simon. |
| Martin Rucinsky #26, LW |
18:00 | B+ | Drew a PP 28 seconds
into the game by helping out a hook at center ice. Real ugly miss of an
open side of the net later in the 1st. No excuse. Early 2nd period
AGAIN blew a golden scoring chance with a wide shot. Certainly has been
getting open a lot so far, though. Redeemed himself later in the 2nd by
ending up with a rebound in front of Aebieschier, waited until he dove
and hit the dead center of the net. All is forgiven now, I guess. At
least Rucinsky was one of the few players making things happen tonight,
wide shots aside. Led the team with 5 shots, probably would've had 8 or
9 if he could've hit the net more. |
| Alexei
Kovalev #27, RW |
21:16 | D+ | He was playing alright up to that point, but then on
one play made a pair of SPECTACULAR mistakes that led directly to a
goal. Fanned on a pass in his own zone which went directly to an Av
creating an instant 2-on-Kovalev, Lababrab... Jason made a nice save
but then Kovalev shoves the puck out from behind him RIGHT BACK INTO
TRAFFIC where another Av grabs it and shoots it into an empty net. Bad
enough he has an unbeliveably pathetic 2 goals on the season, but if
he's going to start adding mistakes on top of it... I.. I.. excuse me
while I go bite on a metal pipe for a while. |
| Petr Nedved #93, C |
22:17 | C- | Nowhere near as silent
as last game, and he did get 3 shots off, though he's still hardly
looking anything approaching "good". Quite insignificant for 22 minutes
of ice time. |
| Jan
Hlavac #37, LW |
12:12 | C- | I think he touched the puck for more than a second
once in this game, early 3rd when Carter made a nice pass to Hlavac
down low and Jan rushed the net only to put it into a waiting
Aebiescher's pads. Whatever he used to have as a Ranger the first time
around seems LONG gone. Just not a factor most nights. |
| Anson Carter #22, RW |
20:08 | B | The air punch is
becoming a signature move, I think. It may be getting tiring, but I
don't mind seeing it again when Carter scores nice goals like this.
Hung around the net on the PP and showed good hand/eye coordination by
reaching for a rebound backhanded and quickly fishing it in. Played his
best game in a while and was rewarded with the ice time. 2 shots. |
| Mark
Messier #11, C |
16:51 | C- | Both him and Mironov share the blame on the Avs
second goal by watching the puck instead of possible assignments as
they both ended up on the same player while Tanguay was wide open. He
played well offensively, though. A lot of good passes that people like
Rucinsky and Simon didn't convert. However, while the offense was
there, Messier made that big mistake on the PP goal and was on the ice
for THREE of the Avs goals and none for the Rangers, which is just
brutal. |
| Chris Simon #17, LW |
11:56 | B | Choked on a nice Messier
pass in the 2nd. Was on the quiet side until him and Barnaby really got
going in the 3rd. Assist, +1, the only other plus on the team besides
Holik. |
| Matthew
Barnaby #36, RW |
10:10 | B+ | I did notice Barnaby following Konowalchuk all over
the zone on that shift, checking him pretty tightly, but just not quite
tightly enough when Konowalchuck got the rebound and put it in.
Redeemed himself late in the 2nd by coming back to break up a fancy
Sakic/Tanguay play that had Tanguay wide open to tap the puck in if not
for Barnaby getting his stick in there. Mid 3rd period got Cummins to
drop his gloves, drawing a very needed (and unfufilled, of course)
power play. Scored late in the 3rd to give the Rangers a chance, and
also came alive in the period overall. One of the better Rangers
tonight, wouldn't go down without a fight. 4 shots. |
| Jamie Lundmark #21, C |
9:03 | C- |
Decked
by Blake very early in the game, which is about the last time I noticed
Jamie until he had a few shifts on a different line in the 3rd. Blah.
Once again, nothing. |
| Dan
Lacouture #39, LW |
6:53 | C- | If a Dan Lacouture fell in the woods and no one was
around to hear it, would it make a sound? |
| Jed Ortmeyer #41, RW |
5:13 | C | Well, his parents will
have driven 840 minutes round trip to see their son play 5. Get 'em a
nice Christmas present, Jed. |
|
|
|||
| COACHING STAFF: | C | Can't find too much fault here. They played the players who were going well and reduced the times of those who weren't, more or less. Called a time out with a minute and a half left, too. Nothing to talk about here, really. | |
| |
|||
| 1st PERIOD: | C- | They can't finish. For a good portion of the period
the Rangers were making nice passes and getting open for good scoring
chances, but once it was time to actually SHOOT the puck it would go
into shins, go wide or right into the goalie's crest. Despite a 2-0
deficit (and 12-9 on shots), the Rangers really didn't play THAT badly
(ie. no major defensive errors or lack of effort), but it wouldn't have
been 2-0 if anyone on this team could remember how to shoot the puck. |
|
| 2nd PERIOD: | C | I was just getting read
to say all sorts of great things about them this period then the Avs
turn it on in the final 5 minutes, scoring two goals and demonstrating
how much better they are than the Rangers when they want to be. Can't
really blame Labarbera, either, as both late Avs goals came solely due
to individual mistakes by de Vries and Kovalev. Boy.. it was a nice 15
minutes there for a while. Shots 15-10 Avs. |
|
| 3rd PERIOD: | B+ | They played a great 3rd period, owning the flow for
the majority and outshooting the Avs 14-6. Many times were just a hair
from tying the game, too, but too little, too late. Frustrating. |
|
| OVERALL: | C+ |
Well,
they played a decent game, only to be done in by their CONSTANT wide
shooting and individual mistakes by certain players. However, when
you've only won one game of your last eight and you've fallen below
.500 for the first time in over a month, playing well under the
circumstances and getting no points doesn't cut it. What it does get
you is another April on the golf course, which is starting to look more
and more likely. None of this can be blamed on Labarbera, either,
because as I mentioned in his column he had one shaky moment but played
well enough for them to win otherwise. Look
at what they have coming up now, too. Home to Ottawa then another road
trip, this one starting in Tampa Bay who look near flawless right now.
They could be looking at 3 under .500 in a blink. They're like a
cartoon car right now where the fender falls off, then a door, then the
hood... let's see if they can stop it before they're riding on a frame
with wheels. It doesn't look good right now. |
|
| Scratches: | Pavel Bure (knee - IR) Paul Healey (knee - IR) Eric Lindros (eye - IR) Jussi Markannen (personal) Tom Poti (thumb) Dale Purinton (healthy) Pascal Rheaume (knee - IR) |
||
| created by: | Pete Rocha, © 2003. procha@optonline.net | ||
| Discuss the card here | |||
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